Whisper
by Luckie D
Summary: What can you do when someone you hate comes back? Maria Frank's bitter and troubling past comes back in a heartbreaking case, causing her to deal with it for the first time. John Munch/OFC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. This came to mind after watching a Homicide episode where Tim Bayliss says a line that caused me to think of Maria's past. Time to bring out her skeletons in the closet. Not going to say the line, but will be borrowing it for later on. It should be easy to notice if anyone has watched Homicide as much *I* do! LOL!**

"Honestly, we're not having this discussion." Maria said for the second time while on the way to a crime scene. She and her partner, John Munch, were in the midst of playful banter of who was going to be the primary on the case. Both had practically answered the phone at the same time and Don Cragen wasn't going to step between their turf war. "I answered the phone a milla-second faster then you did, so I am the primary." She pointed her index finger to herself and glanced at him as she turned down the road where the squad cars were sitting.

Munch shook his head and slightly frowned. "Fine, but if you don't like the causes of the case, I take it and call it. Deal?"

"Deal." They shook on it and stepped out of the car. "What's going on here?" Maria asked a uniform who was talking to a possible witness.

He pointed in the direction of a covered body in the bushes. "Got a nine year old girl named Adva Feinburg from Brooklyn. She was found by the hiker over there," He pointed to the person he had been talking with, "and called nine-one-one once he made sure the little girl was gone or still hanging on. The body is nude with lacerations or cuts on body and signs of sexual abuse that seems to have spanned on for a while now."

Frank inhaled a slow breath and slowly exhaled. "Okay, then. Anyone get a hold of her parents or a guardian of some sort?" She bent down, pulled on a glove and lifted the sheet. The girl's dark hair was damp from the morning dew and her skin was white as fresh snow. Dried blood covered her body where the lacerations were and her dark eyes were wide open, frozen in terror from her torture. Her barely formed chest was disturbed by old healed scars. Maria glanced further down her body and saw what appeared to be blood from being raped over and over again before being killed. _Jesus Christ._

The uni swallowed for a moment and muttered, "No sign of a guardian, but someone came forward who was looking for her. Says she's her twin sister." Both Munch and Frank looked up at the younger man and he pointed in the direction of a little girl wrapped in a blanket and sitting in a police car.

"Let me guess: your first dead girl?" John asked flatly, pointing out the uniform should have pointed out the twin sister was right there. "Next time, point out any family or friends first before we uncover the body and flash an image no one should have to see. Okay?"

The young man nodded quickly and swallowed heavily as he went back to his questioning. Maria recovered the girl and stood up. "Well, how about you talk with the hiker while I talk to the sister?" Munch nodded and gave her a look only she could understand. _Focus on the case. The little girl is the case. _She walked over to the police car, opened the other side of the back passenger door and slid in next to the little girl. The child sat perfectly in the seat with the thick blanket wrapped securely around her. Her dark eyes stared straight ahead and showed the loss and fear she had experienced. Having worked with children many times before, Maria knew better then to jump her with questions and decided to take it extra slow. "My name's Maria. What's your name?"

The dark-haired little girl slowly turned her head in Frank's direction and stared right at her. She gradually opened her mouth and whispered, "Abigail," before staring straight ahead again. "My sister's dead?"

"Yeah. My friend over there is named John and he and I are cops. We're going to protect you and find who did this to your sister-"

"You can't save me," Abigail muttered, cutting her off. "No one could protect Adva and she's gone. You can't protect me and I'm going to end up dead, too." She choked out the last few words as the tears began to fall. "No one can."

Knowing getting her to talk wasn't going to happen, Maria reached into the pocket inside her coat and pulled out a card. Wordlessly, she slipped it between two small fingers that stuck out of the blanket and gave her a small smile when Abigail turned her head. "If you want to talk, my home, cellphone and work number are on here. Okay? You may believe I can't help you, but I will listen if you want to talk." The little girl nodded her head slowly and pulled the card slowly into the blanket.

John Munch lifted his eyes from writing down his notes to watch Maria exiting the car and closing the door to keep the heat in. The expression on her face told him exactly what he was feeling.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"Are you sure you still want this case, Mar? You have an extremely hard time when it comes to kids," John pointed out as they headed back to headquarters once they were finished with questioning and finding a place to house the living sister until the parents were found.

Maria softly snorted and went back to staring out the window. "You don't take kid cases well either, too. You take them a little harder then I do, however, but you hide it much better then I can." He glanced over at her for a second and earned a look from his already troubled partner. "Don't give me that look, John. You're still not getting this case. I promised the living sister I would protect her and find who did this to her twin. A promise is a promise in my book."

Munch raised a hand as a signal he was giving up. "Okay, Mar. You win. But," He slowed once they hit traffic under a dark bridge and leaned over, pointing his index finger at her. "If you start having issues with this and Don notices, I'm taking over. I don't like watching you grieve over a child during a case. You know we do that once the case is done and over with." Something flashed in his dark brown eyes and Maria cracked a small smile. She knew that look very well and resisted the urge to lean over and give him a tiny kiss. "I don't want to watch you wallow in your pain over this little girl. If you want to wallow, at least let me wallow with you?"

"Okay. Fine." She grasped his finger and shook it, as if sealing a deal. "You know, we keep making these deals and we might just loose track."

"Nah, we won't." He straightened up as the traffic started moving and glanced over in her direction. "I love you, by the way."

Frank laughed and responded with, "I love you, too. No matter how much you piss me off over your silly small things or how many arguments we have, I still love you more then anything." He laughed and grinned. "I mean it, John. Now, our next step is to find the parents of the dead little girl and her sister so we can break it to them one of their daughters is dead. That part never gets any easier."

Once they arrived at headquarters, they first headed straight to Captain Don Cragen's office. "So what do we have?"

"A dead nine year old girl named Adva Feinburg. Cuts, bruises, lacerations and signs of sexual abuse going back possibly a year before she murdered. She also has a twin sister named Abigail and social services is watching her until we find her parents."

"Any idea where they are?"

Maria shook her head. "Abigail wasn't straightforward with where she lives or where their location is." She slide down into a seat and sighed. "Either she's too traumatized to say where or she probably doesn't know where they live. From her name and accent, she's not from around here."

Cragen leaned forward in his seat and asked, "Where do you think she's from?"

"Somewhere where the Jewish population hangs out: Manhattan, Lower East Side, maybe Brooklyn. From her accent, she could be from overseas as a legal immigrant. They might have moved and then Adva was killed or the abuse started and then she was killed." John explained, slightly shrugging because neither of them really knew.

"What makes you think it's the parents?"

Maria shook her head slightly. "We always look to the parents when there is a sign of abuse and we all know that. Abigail probably doesn't want them to know she was out looking for her sister. We won't know until we dig deeper into what happened."

Don nodded his head and stood up, signaling them to walk out of his office, following them. "Work out all leads and, once the parents are found, talk to them. If you can get the living sister to talk, go very slowly and see if other abuse is going on. Do you think the sister could have done this?"

"Absolutely not. Her behavior doesn't give me the vibe that she did it and from the amount of blood on the body's genitals, I don't believe she's capable of doing it."

"I hope you're right, Frank. I really hope you are right."

* * *

It was well past midnight and Maria Frank was still sitting at her desk, going over her paperwork of the case and glancing at the photos of the crime scene if something caught her eye. Everyone else had gone home to their waiting beds except for one other person - John Munch was nodding off at his desk, resting his feet on his desk and resting his head against his hand. He desperately wanted to crawl under the covers of his bed - their bed they shared - but he didn't want to leave her alone. If she stayed all night, so was he.

Shaking her head and lightly slapping her face to get to wake up a little more, Frank glanced down at the crime scene photo of the little girl, splayed out like a ghostly angel. Her dark hair and dark eyebrows stood out against her very white and cold skin, giving her the impression of a ghost.

Her eyes scanned over the lacerations cut into her flesh and her body suddenly went cold. A voice echoed in her head and she jumped up from fear, her heart pounding heavily in her chest. The cold, deep voice she had ignored since she was a young teen traveled through her sleep-fogged mind like an unwanted spirit making it's appearance. _Deep breaths, girl. Take a few deep breaths and you'll be okay. _

John lifted his head and saw she was standing up, bracing her hand on the desk. "Are you okay, Mar?"

Maria shook her head once more to snap her back to reality and lifted her head, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. The need for sleep is just making me a little jumpy. Heard a car outside and it made me jump." She reached for her bottle of water and gulped it down, finally feeling her heart slowing down. "Maybe I should call this a night and get some sleep. Clearing my mind might just help a little."

"M'kay," He stood up and got themselves ready to go home. "Do you want to eat anything or are you not feeling up for it?"

She considered it, but shook her head slowly. "Nah. I can't think about that right now. I just want to go home, hug my puppy and get some rest before doing the same thing all over again."

"You have to eat something, Mar. You haven't eaten anything all day-"

"And neither have you!" She shot back, her eyes glaring in his direction. He heavily sighed and bit his tongue - he knew better then to start her up when she was already running on low. Heavily sighing and taking a hold of his hand once she made sure no one was around as they headed to the car, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

John offered her a small smile and squeezed her hand before releasing it. "Don't worry about it. Just...what has you all wound up tight about this case? Didn't we make a deal about swapping cases if it bothered either one of us?"

She waved her hand in front of her face and answered, "I promised the twin sister we would find who killed her sister and I keep those promises. I know we made that deal, but it's not bothering me enough to want to give it to you. Does that make sense?" He nodded and they both got into the car together. "Zev's going to need to be let out since Dean's been watching him while we were working."

"I'll take care of that, no problem." He placed a hand on the back of her neck and leaned over to kiss her temple. "Anything specific for the night or do you just want to crash for the night?" Maria shook her head and took a hold of his hand again. His dark eyes watched her fingers outlining his fingers and knuckles. "What's the matter?"

She said nothing, but continued to slowly and gently glide her fingers along his hand. After five minutes of sitting in silence, Maria wordlessly reached her hand out and pulled John towards her for a silent kiss. Tilting his head to the right, Munch allowed her to take control and slowly pulled his hand from her's to rest on the back of her neck. Moments passed as they sat in silence and exploring each other's mouth until Frank finally pulled away and gently touched his face with her fingertips. "Let's just go home," She whispered softly, giving him a small smile, in which he returned.

Driving home in silence, John would carefully turn his head to see her staring out the window and into the darkness of the night, watching as random people walked along the sidewalks until the pulled up to her place. Once they made it to her door and she unlocked her, Maria cracked a small smile when their now six month old bloodhound puppy, Zev, leaped up and placed his massive paws on her chest. "How's your day been, boy?" She asked in a small voice as she rubbed behind his ears and earned a well deserved lick to the face.

"Dean's left a note on the fridge about his day and looks like he was well behaved." John answered her question, reaching for his leash. Snapping it to his collar and pulling Maria into a small hug, she tilted her chin up and whispered, "We'll be back. Going to bed?"

"Yeah. You can make yourself some dinner, but I'm going to bed to rattle around the case until I pass out." She gave him a small smile when he kissed her nose, but that was it. No arms wrapping around him for a hug and no returning his concerned affection for her. "I'm probably going to be getting up early in the morning anyway and head into work to see if Warner has any news from the autopsy."

Once John had left with Zev, Maria walked into the bedroom and slowly sat down, her hand pressing against her temple. _Those lacerations, _She thought, _why...? It can't be. There's no way it can be... _Closer her eyes for a moment and attempting to calm herself, Frank leaned on her knees and pressed both palms against her forehead. _No. It's just not possible._

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU.**

Sitting up in bed during the early hours, Maria Frank couldn't stop herself from seeing her nightmare every time she blinked. Having spent most of the night tossing and turning, she faked herself asleep when John would stir and check on her. He was finally back in a deep sleep and she was able to move around without disturbing him or the puppy, who was fast asleep at their feet.

Inhaling a slow breath and exhaling it the same way, Frank moved slowly to a standing position and tucked the corners of the covers around John to keep him warm and headed to the bathroom for a shower. As much as she loved having him in the shower with her, Maria couldn't bring herself to wake him after she turned her back to him when John tried to get her attention in a loving and concerned way.

Standing under the steaming water and closer her eyes, she could still hear him talking in her head...

_"C'mon, Mar. Just...talk to me." Munch sat down on the bed and reached a hand out to touch her arm. Feeling her tense up under his fingers, he watched with a solemn expression as she rolled away from him and made him look at her back. Inhaling a slow breath and feeling his frustrations rising from her silence, he tried one more time. "Maria? Turning your back to me isn't going to stop me from asking what's happenin-"_

_"I don't want to talk about it," She finally stated firmly, wrapping the comforter tighter around her shoulders and buried herself in her pillow and thick bed covers. "Stop pestering me and get some sleep, dear." _

_I'm not pestering you, John thought bitterly, starting to really dislike how she was shutting him out. Instead of following her directions to lay down and get some sleep, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her firmly. When she tensed up and began to groan in objection, he shushed her gently and closed his eyes as he hugged her. "I'm not going to leave you alone, Maria. You can grumble, kick, scream, hit, squirm and spit at me as much as you want, I won't be leaving you alone."_

_"Why can't you get it, John? I want to be left alone. I leave you alone when you want to be, so why can't you follow through with my request?" She muttered from under the covers, drawing herself into a fetal position to avoid his body touching her. _

_"Because I can't. I'm not capable of leaving you alone when you're shutting something out that you need to face."_

"I don't want to face it," She muttered to herself, as she reached for her shampoo. "I haven't had to face it for years and I don't want to face it now." She bitterly finished her shower and got out, reaching for her towel to dry off. "You can't tell me to face it. You didn't have to live with it for two years."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

After taking Zev for a quick walk, making a bagel to go, and leaving John a note on the table, Maria walked straight to her desk and noticed her case was right where she left it; right in the center of her desk like it was waiting for her. Don was in his office with the door shut, Olivia Benson was where she always was - at her desk - but other then that, it was pretty quiet. "Frank?" She raised her head, seeing Don beckoning her into his office.

Once she was in the office and the door was shut, her eyes watched her captain as he moved to stand in front of her. "What's up?"

"We found the parents of the sisters... in Chesterhill Cemetary."

"Well, fuck. That's not going to be useful."

He slightly shrugged and slipped down into his seat. "We're still looking for the guardians since the girls were in the system-"

Maria snorted. "And we both know the system is so perfect."

"I know you don't like how the system works. None of us like it with our past experiences with it, but we all have to accept it to work with the system and not against it." He motioned for her to sit, but Frank shook her head no. "The living sister isn't talking much, but she's given enough information to get an idea of her guardians or foster parents. Warner also called and said she's ready for you to stop by and see what she's found."

_Oh, great, _Maria thought bitterly as she nodded her head and reached for her coat to stop by the coroner's office. The rain had been threatening to fall for a few days now and from the sound of rain pounding against the window, it had finally snapped. _Just great. _

* * *

"There isn't one part of this body that isn't damaged; contusions, abrasions, blisters, lacerations, burns, cuts, fractures, broken teeth and a dislocated shoulder." Melinda Warner placed down her clipboard and crossed her arms. "I would have done a thousand burned bodies instead of seeing something like this."

Frank looked down at the battered and bruised body of the little girl and felt her stomach beginning to rebel. "H-how long do you think this went on?"

"Oh, years. Her left arm has a healed spiral fraction, right femur was shattered and from the scars, looks like surgery was done to repair the damage. There are old scars from blisters from being burned as well." The dark woman looked at Maria and covered the body with the sheet. "I'm sorry, Maria."

"For what? You have nothing to be sorry about since you're doing your job and I'm doing mine. A child had to die for me to be employed. Do you know if she suffered?" Her eyes froze on the laceration on the back of Adva's hand and a flash of a long distance memory skimmed through her mind.

"It was a long and painful death. It was the internal bleeding that finished her off, but it was very painful and a long death." Melinda's expression told Maria what she was thinking; what sick person would do this to an innocent little girl. "The bad part is there isn't any fluids from her rape to help with your case."

_Fucking Christ, _Frank thought bitterly as she left once Warner was done explaining everything about the case. As she waited in traffic to get back to work, her eyes fell upon a barely visible scar on the back of her hand. It was so faint, the only way she could see it was in the perfect light. In the beginning of their relationship, Maria had explained to John it was an oil burn when she was a small tyke, reaching for a pot on the stove.

It wasn't the truth. None of it was.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"Where were you?" John Munch asked as he placed a file on her desk, twenty minutes after she returned from Warner's office.

Maria placed some cream into her coffee mug and glanced at the file for a moment. "Seeing Warner on the autopsy. No fluids in or on her body, no DNA under her nails and she died a slow death. You know, the usual story we get seventy percent of the time with our cases." She didn't look up at him the whole time she spoke.

John made a note of her not making eye contact with him and drew in a slow breath. Taking a quick glance at the clock on her desk, it was time for lunch. "Have you eaten anything?"

"Nope." She still didn't look at him.

"Do you want to eat something?"

"It all depends, Munch." She flipped through her D-D5s and scribbled her signature at the bottom once she was done skimming them. "What are you offering?"

He leaned down and braced his hands on her desk, hoping to get her attention. "I'm offering food to keep you fueled up as you continue to push yourself beyond the point of no return." When she finally turned her head, he frowned at her and showed he wasn't pleased with her at all. "You haven't _talked _to me, you're _shutting _me out mentally and it's starting to _piss _me off," He whispered with his mouth barely moving.

Frank returned the frown and muttered between her teeth, "_Fine_. Get me a sandwich and we'll _talk _about this _later _tonight. All right?" When his eyebrows moved lower into a deeper frown, she knew he didn't accept that as an excuse. "We can't talk about this hear, understand. Do you want Don to chew us out?"

Without a word, he stood back up and walked over to his desk, yanked out a plastic bag and placed it on her desk. "Eat. I'll get something else for myself." He turned back and headed back to his desk to get back to his paperwork, glancing up every now and then to see her peeking into the bag with mild interest and saw what he had packed as his lunch - which was now hers. When she finally reached in and pulled out the sandwich bag, he held back a small approved smile when she took a bite. _Good. Just eat something, babe. It will help._

The roast beef on rye with a lettuce, tomato and a hint of mustard really was good, Maria had to admit it. The second she took that bite, her stomach began to growl as if it just noticed she was eating something decent. Add in the coffee she had, she finally took a chance to open the file he had placed down and noticed it was paperwork to the possible foster parents to the twin girls. _Why didn't he tell me about this when he came over?_

She skimmed the names for a second and her forehead furrowed. She recognized the names, but couldn't place her finger on it. Moving her eyes down and checking over the rest of what John had found, she picked up the phone and called up social services to get in contact with the living sister, Abigail. "It's Detective Maria Frank. Is Abigail Feinberg still in your custody? She is? Good. Can you have someone drive her here so we can talk? I believe we found something on her guardians or foster parents."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Abigail sat in a chair of the interrogation room with a soda can in front of her and her hands clamped tightly in her lap. She looked around nervously when the door opened and Maria walked in, file in hand and a smile on her face. "How are you doing, Abigail?"

The little girl shrugged and scratched her neck with her right hand. "I'm okay. I miss my sister."

"I know you do. I would, too, if I was in your place, sweetie." She slipped into the chair and folded her hands on the table. "What I called you in for is...my partner found someone who might be your guardians or foster parents."

Her eyes went wide and she began to squirm in her chair uncomfortably. "Y-you did?" Frank nodded and Abigail lowered her head. "They're going to be mad, you know?"

"Why would they get mad at you?" Maria asked with concern, making a mental note about her sudden change in behavior.

Before she could even have a chance to open her mouth, Don Cragen opened the door and announced, "Abigail's foster parents are here with their lawyer. They want to take Abigail home as soon as possible."

Turning her head around and seeing the little girl was beginning to shut down in fear, she quickly and quietly asked, "Please. Tell me what's going on. Why do you not want to return to them?"

Hearing voices coming closer, Abigail glanced up at her in fear and mouthed, 'I can't say', right before three people appeared behind Don. "Abigail?" A tall woman slipped past Don and Maria, wrapping her arms around the stiff child. "Oh, we were so worried about you. I'm so sorry about your sister, sweetie. I really am." She pulled away and checked her over with her blue eyes, making sure she was all right. "We've been looking for you and so scared for your safety."

Two other men, one in a nice suit, stood behind Don. "Do we have to sign any papers to take her back home?" The other man asked, not removing his eyes from his remaining foster daughter. Like his wife, he was tall with dark blond hair and striking blue eyes. His facial expression was completely different from his wife, however. "Come on, Abigail. We're going home now." He watched his wife take the girl's hand and they walked out of the room. Abigail gave Maria one last fleeting look before she was gone from her sight.

The husband crossed his arms and turned to Cragen. "Why were we not informed of her safety sooner?"

"She didn't tell us because her sister was just murdered and was in shock. We couldn't even find your paperwork from the foster department." He sighed out, not at all impressed with how the husband was taking it. He seemed more concern about where Abigail was instead of what happened to Adva. "If you hadn't forgotten, your other foster daughter is gone and in the morgue."

"We're aware of that. She's gone and there's nothing we can do about her coming back," He shot back, glancing over in Maria's direction with a look of disgust. "What I want to know is why we were not informed of this disaster sooner!" Before Don Cragen could say anything, the man and his lawyer stormed off.

Both stood in silence for a few minutes. Heavily sighing with disgust, Maria Frank packed up the file and tossed the soda can into the trash can, not caring at that moment for recycling. "Why couldn't you see she didn't want to go?" She asked bitterly.

"She didn't verbally say it and I couldn't allow us to hold her any longer. I know her posture told you, but I couldn't-"

"That's _fucking bullshit _and you know it!" She snapped, not caring she was bordering yelling at her boss. "Didn't the look of utter _fear _on her face tell you enough? She's _fucking _scared of them and she didn't get a chance to say anything when you can barging it! Now we'll never know!"

Don pursed his lips and snapped back. "_That's enough_, Detective! Why don't you take some time off to cool off-"

"_No_, sir! What I want to do is save that little girl from a life of _Hell_!" She kicked a chair hard enough, it bounced across the room and hit a wall. By this time, everyone else in the bullpen had caught the sound of yelling voices. John was already on his feet and making his way over to step between them if he needed to. "Why can't you fucking see that?"

"Do you have some vacation time coming up? How about taking two weeks off to cool off before I rip you."

She raised her hands. "_Rip me_. I don't care. I'm not taking any vacation time while this is my case and it is still open." She pointed the file at his chest and snarled, "You can't take this case away from me no matter what you say, Captain."

"You're pushing it, Frank!" He placed a hand up to keep her a good distance away, in case she did something stupid.

"I don't fucking care if I am. You just sent that girl to her _death_!" She chucked the file to the floor and stormed out. "I hope you're fucking happy!"

He turned around and watched her go. "Detective!"

she spun around and walked back over to him. "No! I'm not taking anymore shit from you." She had pushed it too far. Before she did anything else stupid, John grabbed her upper arms and pulled away from Cragen roughly as she fought back. "Let me the fuck go!"

Motioning for him to move her back into the interrogation room, he shut the door and picked up the scattered file. Don could see she was visibly upset about the whole thing and didn't seem to be thinking correctly at this point. "Maria, take a deep, slow breath right now. Don't fight John, either," He explained in a calm voice. Seeing her inhaling and exhaling heavily from her adrenalin rush, he placed a hand on her shoulder and calmly said, "Deep and slow breaths."

She struggled once more in Munch's hold and groaned in frustration. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" She pleaded. "I know those people. I know them from my childhood. They are not nice people and will harm that child just like they harmed Adva."

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. Adult content because Maria needs it. **

Both men looked at each other in concern, but John still didn't release his hold of Maria's arms. "What are you talking about?" He asked, concern etched in his tone. "How do you know them?" Maria didn't answer him, but her will to fight his hold diminished enough for him to know she couldn't fight him anymore.

"How do you know what's going to happen?" Don repeated Munch's question, lowering his head to look her face when she looked down. When she still didn't say anything, he motioned to Munch he was going to step out and give them the privacy they needed for her to talk. "When done in here, I want to see you in my office," He demanded gently with a hand on her shoulder.

Once the door was shut, Frank struggled once again until John finally released her. His dark eyes watched her pull away and pound her fist against the wall. "You're heading in the right direction for a ripping or worse, Mar," He flatly pointed out, knowing no one was able to hear them. "You need to start talking to me and not blocking me out like you are doing now!" His hands flew to his hips; he was getting pissed again.

"Or what? Are you going to pull rank on me?" She turned around and looked at him, showing the awful pain she had been hiding for years. "Threatening me with rank has never worked on me and it never will. Don't like it? You can leave."

He shook his head and heavily sighed. "I'm not going to leave because you need to get it out and I'm here to help you. How do you know these people? Especially from your childhood of all things."

"You remember what I told you about with my parents?" She blunted out in a soft, but threatening, voice. When he nodded his head, she continued. "Then you should remember I was knocked into the system then."

"Yes, I remember that. You never went into details about it except for a few things, though." His head tilted in one direction, as if he knew where this was going. At least, he hoped it wasn't heading into something awful. "There's more, isn't there?"

"You have that right, Sherlock." She leaned against the wall and slowly slid down until she hit floor. "There's so much more, it will make you nauseous. In here," Maria pressed her finger to her temple, "Is more pain and fear that you haven't seen. I have repressed most of it just so I can keep going on day after day, but this case - the sisters - is bringing it all back."

Slowly making his way towards her and kneeling down to look in her face better, Munch asked, "Is this case reminding you about your foster parents?"

"No," She paused for a moment to regain her composure. "I-It's because...those people? That couple? They are my foster parents."

* * *

John had gone silent from what Maria had stated. Once the words were out of her mouth, she had grown silent for half an hour afterward and only moved to see Cragen. Munch wanted to go in with her, but she wanted to do it herself since her out burst was her own fault. Taking a seat at his desk and watching the movement from behind the door shades, he could feel his blood pressure rocketing at the idea of Don circling her like a vulture, ripping her a new one and taking her badge from her belt.

Fin drew his attention carefully with a tap of his pen. "Hey. Cap's not going to fire her. She's far too important to toss out and replace."

"I know, but after her attitude earlier? I don't know anymore." he leaned forward in his chair and began thinking. "I know she's important to the team, but it bothers me to think what awful shit she's been hiding for so long and now it's starting to come up." Looking up when the door opened and Maria walked out, he couldn't tell if everything was all right or not. Her face was so blank, she could have won at a poker game. When Don appeared in the doorway and beckoned him over, he quickly hightailed it over to him and asked, "What's going on?"

"I've moved the case to you, but she's going to stay involved."

"How? She was practically almost out of control-"

Cragen raised his hand to silence Munch. "She promised to cool it if she gets to stay on the case and wants you to be the primary. She doesn't trust the others to understand her issues since you and her are close. Got that?"

"Got it." He turned his head to see Maria had disappeared as they were talking. "Now where did she go?"

"Went up for some air. Told her to do it. Best go with her and just keep her company."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Opening the door to the roof and looking around carefully to not startle Maria, John noticed her sitting against a wall with her legs tucked up against her chest. With her chin resting on her knees, she looked very lost in his eyes and it broke his heart. "Mar?" Seeing her coat was down on the floor for her to sit on, he joined her and was silent for a moment. "What's going on, babe? You're not talking to me and with this new information, it's starting to hurt me," He explained gently, keeping his tone even and calm. "Why don't you talk to me?"

"Because I'm scared and I don't want you to get hurt. This entire thing goes in deeper then you would suspect and I don't want you involved."

"I'm involved now since I'm taking over the case or did you not hear Cap tell you that?"

She lifted her head and sighed. "No, I heard that, but that's the case and not my past." She felt him tense up beside him and regretted what she just said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, I get it. You just don't want me involved in your past with this case at hand." The hurt was visible in his voice and he wanted to get up and leave her, but he couldn't. Knowing no one could see them, he reached a hand out and took a hold of her cold hand, grasping it firmly. "But I want to help you because I love you and I know you love me, too."

Frank was silent for a moment and blinked several times to fight back her emotions. "Yes, I do, John." He tilted his head to look at her better when he sensed her hesitation. "I do. I really, truly love you, John."

"I'm not doubting that, babe. I'm just concerned about your hesitation, that's all."

Frank shook her head and gave him the best fake smile possible. "There's a lot of things going on in my mind right now. I didn't want to hesitate with stating I love you, but I did because of everything that's going on." She brought his hand to her hand and kissed the back of his knuckles. "Tonight, I want something special. Nothing shiny or food, but I just want you with me and, even though we only do this during special times, I'll take a pill so we can just go until I get out everything I've been fighting over. Please?"

Giving her a sad smile, Munch nodded and leaned forward to gently and quickly kiss her, before anyone noticed them. "If it will help you, okay. Tonight after work?" When she nodded, he returned the nod and got up, offering her a hand to get back to work.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*MM*M

Barely through the door of her place, Maria had a hold of John's tie and brought him so close, his lips barely brushed against her's. "Check the dog and then meet me in the bedroom," She whispered, her tongue lashing out to lightly touch his upper lip.

Munch shuddered from the sensation and quickly glanced at the refrigerator, noticing Dean had left a note and had stated he had barely let Zev out a half hour before. Seeing the pup was fast asleep on the couch and twitching in his sleep, he moved quickly and quietly to the bedroom and got a very delicious glance of Maria's backside before she turned around, facing him fully nude. "You are beautiful," He whispered, reaching down to loosen his belt and undid his work slacks.

Reaching for him and undoing his tie, Frank tossed it to the floor and opened his work shirt, lifting his undershirt to place small kisses and nips along his chest and stomach, before turning her attention to the right of his chest, taking in one of his nipples. John groaned and tossed his head back, feeling himself getting so hard, it was beginning to hurt and he needed her. Standing back up and claiming his mouth roughly, Maria slipped her hands under the hem of his work slacks and boxers and pushed them down before John roughly pushed her back onto the bed. She chuckled softly and crooked her finger in his direction. "C'mon, big boy. Give me what you've got, John."

Seeing an empty birth control pill holder and a glass of water on the side table, Munch crawled onto the bed until he was hovering dangerous over her and kissed her deeply and passionately. "Ready?"

"Always been," She answered, running her hand down his chest to his stomach and finally along his hardened member. When he shuddered in her hand, she grinned and nipped his neck. "Do it." With a one hard thrust and kissing her once more, John was deep in her depths and groaned loudly from the overwhelming sensation. With condoms always between them, it made it harder to really feel her around him. With the condom out of the way for the night, he struggled to hold himself firm until he was ready to ride his orgasm with her.

Not able to stand waiting much longer, he began with gentle thrusts at first but began moving in a quick pace when she nudged him to move faster. Feeling her hands pushing his work jacket and work shirt off his shoulders, he sat up and tossed them to the floor, lifting his undershirt up before tossing it to join the other clothes. Placing one hand on one breast, he lowered his head to kiss and suckle on the other, causing Maria to buck up and press knees against his waist. He chuckled deep in his throat when she gasped and moaned at the same time.

Grasping his arms firmly with her fingers, Maria tossed her head back and began to pant as she fought to keep herself going before climaxing. She moaned out his name and wrapped her arms around him, holding him closer then before. Allowing his body to lay on her's, he kept his thrusts short as he kept most of himself deep inside her. Gasping her name, Munch finally got his chance and felt Maria tense up under him as they climaxed together.

Keeping their arms wrapped around each other, Munch gently kissed her and they began to explore each other's mouth slowly and passionately. Breaking the kiss for much needed air and a chance to finally catch their breath, John braced himself up slowly and carefully extracted himself as to not harm her already sensitive body. Once he caught his breath, he softly asked, "Do you feel better?"

Nodding her head with a small smile, Frank gently touched his cheek and placed her hand on her lower abdomen. "I'm going to need another go, but I need a small break."

John agreed and slowly sat up on his knees, admiring the view before him. "You are certainly beautiful, even after having sex." She softly laughed and shook her head. "No, I mean it. You really are. I thought the same thing after our first time together and I think it to myself every time we're done."

Maria sadly smiled and reached a hand out to gently trail it down the center of his abdomen. "Thanks. That means a lot to me. You're pretty good looking, too." He grinned and leaned forward to kiss her slowly. Pulling back for a second, she whispered, "Why not remove the rest of your clothes?" before claiming his mouth once more.

Softly chuckling, he broke the kiss and stood up to remove the remaining clothes. Feeling her hands on his hips, he ran his fingers through her hair as she leaned close and kissed below his navel, letting him know where this was going and he placed a hand on her shoulder to pause her. "Mar, this night is for you. You asked me to do this for you until you can't take it anymore and I'm going to. There's no need to take care of me in a way of thanking me or because you want to do it." He carefully explained to her softly as she slowly released his hips. "It's not like I don't want you to, but this is all about you."

Blowing out a slow breath, Maria nodded her head. "Okay. It's not like you had a chance to clean yourself up first before I thought about doing you. Do you really think I would want to taste myself on you? I mean really now." She laughed when he grinned and held her arms open for him to crawl into. "Are you hungry yet?"

"I'm getting there. Anything you want in particular?" John rested his head on her shoulder and kept his arms around her securely.

"I don't feel like cooking or washing dishes. How about take out?"

He nodded against her and began thinking. "Well, how about some pizza? Topped with peppers, mushrooms and onions?"

"That can work. We can finally break in the paper plates we got last night."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

_She struggled against the hand that held tightly to her upper arm, yelling for him to let go. The man continued to pull on the teen's arm until they arrived to the room with boarded up windows. With a swing of his arm, the teen fell against the wall and yelped from the pain shooting up her back and began to shake. He had threatened to show her this for months and had finally brought her to it. _

_With a slam of the door, the man grabbed for a homemade whip and cracked it to get her attention. "Now, I've warned you about this room and if you were to do anything fucking stupid, I was going to drag you up here. You're grades are falling, kike, and I don't like it." The whip cracked once more when it hit the wall and the teen flinched. "I'm going to teach you to do your grades RIGHT!"_

_The teen watched in horror as the whip was raised and she raised her arms to defend herself. "NO!"_

Waking with a start and a stifled yelp, Maria sat straight up in bed and fought the tears threatening to fall. "Oh, shit," She muttered, placing both hands over her mouth and bringing her legs to her chest. "No...no. Not again."

John stirred beside her and reached a hand out gently. "Maria? What's the matter?" After three more sex-driven exercises, his body was sore and stiff to the point he couldn't move right, but knowing Maria was startled awake from something awful, he couldn't stop himself from offering a helping hand. "Did you have a nightmare?"

"M-more like a night terror, actually." Her voice was barely above a whisper and she began to rub her fingers along the back of her left hand - where the scar was. "It's j-just the normal night shit I get. They just feel more horrifying at the moment." She kept herself folded up and rested her chin on her knees, feeling John's long and warming fingers trace up her bare back. "Can you hold me for a moment?"

Munch sat up and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "I can do more then that, love. I'll hold you as long as you want me to." Holding her against his chest, he rested his chin on the back of her neck and felt her settling against him slowly. "Take a few deep breaths and let it all out," He suggested gently when he felt a tear landing on his chest. She was fighting her emotions and it broke his heart. "Please? For me?"

Hearing how desperate he was sounding to her to just cry, Maria finally cracked and tears began to stream down her face, leaving a wet trail behind before new ones fell. She gripped the sheets as they laid down together and John drew the comforter around her shoulders, as if to keep the world away from her as much as possible. Pressing her face into his chest and crying against him, Frank nearly jumped when she felt a wet nose slipping between her and John, noticing it was Zev. Her painful tears had drawn the bloodhound's attention and he had managed to get onto the bed without them noticing. Whining softly, the black and tan dog laid down and touched her face with his nose. "Hi, Zev," She whispered sadly, reaching a hand out and scratching his muzzle with to fingers. "I'm sorry I'm worrying you."

Exhaling a heavy sigh and whining softly, Zev nestled closer until he was perfectly snuggled between both humans.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is created by me. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. **

Stretching her arms over her head and yawning, Maria Frank scratched the side of her neck as she scanned over her D-D5s. Over the past few days, nothing new had come up with the case, but John had left the file on the top in his case drawer in case anything new came along. Adva's body had been released to her foster parents for burial and Abigail hadn't said a word when they saw her once more. The look in the little girl's eyes told them something was wrong, but they couldn't have done anything based on her expressions.

Maria was getting frustrated the more she thought about it. _Fuck it. _She tossed the D-D5s on her desk and stood up, fishing a few bucks from her pocket and heading towards the soda machine. Not only did Frank need a break, but she also needed something to drink besides water. She loved water, but constantly drinking and looking at it drove her crazy. Hitting a button for her choice and pulling out the can, she popped it without thought and slide to the floor to ponder. Don had told them put the case on ice until they got more information, but the tone in his voice said differently. He didn't want to put it on ice, either.

Like they had another other choice, right?

"Maria!" Munch's rushed voice grabbed her attention and she lifted her head. "We got a call. Another little girl found dead and the same way Adva was." He handed her his quickly jotted notes and looked over what he got in the call. "What to go or shall I get Fin?"

Quickly shaking her head and hoisting herself to her feet, Maria handed him back his notes and grabbed her coat he held in his hand. "As if I would let anyone else go with you with a case like this. Same age as Adva?"

"Same age, body type, looks." John quickly noticed her expression change, as if she saw something terrifying. "Mar?"

_Oh, my God. Please, don't let it be her. Please._

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Pulling the car up to the crime scene and getting out of the car, both John and Maria made they're way over to the scene and the covered body behind them. "Did you figure out a name yet?"

The uni nodded his head and sadly said, "Abigail Feinburg. Found by a hiker twenty minutes ago." He watched the detective and Sergent nod in unison, as one stepped forward to the body.

Kneeling down and slowly lifting the white fabric, Maria clenched her jaw very tightly as she scanned over the body. Unlike her sister, Abigail's eyes were closed, as if she was sleeping. Her white skin was stained with blood and fresh lacerations, her hands showing defensive wounds from being assaulted over and over again. A gash on her cheek was dried from the morning chill and the blood stained and splattered her face, which was turned towards Maria. Like her sister, she was also stripped of her clothes and showed signs of being raped repeatedly. In her clamped right hand was something that caught her attention. "Hey, John? Can you bring me an evidence bag, please?" Pulling on her gloves, she began to gently pry her tiny fingers apart. "C'mon, sweetie. What do you have for me," She whispered, slowly pulling the small thick paper from the stiff and cold fingers. It was Maria's business card she had slipped to her after they first talked. On the back was a scribbled note that said, 'Help me.'

To their horror, it wasn't written in pen, but in her own blood. "Fuck," John muttered bitterly, exhaling a sharp breath as his eyes scanned over the little girl's body. "All of these look fresh," he noticed, motioning his hand over Abigail's arms, legs and waist. "And look at these defensive wounds."

Balling her fists up tightly, Frank noticed the familiar marks on the dead child's arms and knew instantly what they were. _Whips. _"Fucker's at it again," She muttered softly, resisting the urge to reach a hand out and gently touch the girl's face. "I'm so sorry, Abigail."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler both turned when they saw Munch and Frank walk back in with expressionless faces. "Another little girl?" Liv asked, having a terrible feeling in her gut. When Maria nodded her head, Benson shook her head sadly and went back to looking at the board.

"Do we have a clue who it is yet?" Stabler softly asked, treading carefully with how he spoke to either of them.

"I personally know who's doing this, but I have no legal evidence to prove it," Frank answered as she slumped down into her desk chair with a sigh. "I know it's them, but we need physical evidence to fucking catch them." Resting her head against her hand and closing her eyes for a moment, she could still see the whip lashes on Abigail's body. She knew what pain she had endured and could feel her anger rising the more she kept thinking about it. The smell of a hot coffee reached her nostrils and she slowly opened her eyes to see Don placing a mug down on her desk. "Are you going to ask me if I'm behaving or not?"

Cragen carefully sat down on her desk and shook his head slightly. "No, I'm just checking to see if you're hanging on. After all, you are the one who talked to her a few days ago."

Maria huffed softly and shook her head, fighting off her tears of helplessness. "I offered to help her and I got shit in return. This is just giving me more reasons to find those fuckers who fucked me over years ago and are still going at it."

"Are you going to tell me these people did the same abuse to you as they did two these children?" Cragen asked carefully, but he didn't get an answer. Instead, Maria grabbed for her coffee, took a small sip and turned back to her notes about the case until Warner was done with her task. "You have to talk to me, Maria or should I bring in Huang to-"

"No, you don't need to bring him into this just yet." She finally spoke up softly, still keeping her eyes on her notes. "Personally, I think I need to work it over by myself and find a way to deal with it. We have people keeping their eyes out for the foster parents and, until they come in, I'll just focus on what we have."

Cragen looked over in John's direction and they shared a look.

* * *

Munch observed Maria carefully that evening. After taking Zev out and feeding him his dinner, Maria was going about her daily evening duties of getting some dinner ready for them. Since they left the precinct, she hadn't said a word. Sitting down at the dining table and folding his hands loosely on the table, he softly cleared his throat and waited for her to turn in his direction. "I think we need to talk."

"Oh?"

"Yes, 'Oh'. What's going on with you? Normally, when something's really troubling you or something comes up that affects your past, you talk to me. Why are you not doing that?"

"It's complicated."

Munch exhaled a steady breath and asked gently, "Why is it complicated? You've told me about your parents death, the rape and torture you had to endure from Kevin and you even opened up to me about never even being touched before until we met. How can it be more troubling then all of that?" He stood up and walked over, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Just talk to me. Please?"

Maria shook her head and closed her eyes. "There's so much more involved then what's been mentioned before. I have repressed all of it until this case came along and now two little girls are now dead. Possibly by the hands of those people." She pulled away from John's hands and slowly made her way towards the bedroom, suddenly feeling sick to her stomach. Flopping down on the bed and curling up in a fetal position, she closed her eyes and willed the terrible flashbacks to disappear once more.

John wasn't amused. He wanted to help her during this rather dark and troubling moment in Maria's life, but she wasn't letting him in. She opened up to him the first time they were together and shared very intimate and personal information about themselves, but she was blocking him out now. He was the first to tell her he loved her after their first night together and she loved him in return. Furrowing his brows, something began to bug him as pondered what was causing her to block him out. He headed in the direction of the bedroom and slowly opened the door to faintly see her body on the bed. "Mar?"

"Go away."

He shut the door gently and very slowly made his way towards the foot of the bed. "I can't now. I can't leave you alone like this. Remember back to when we were first together? I wanted to comfort you after you closed that case for us in Baltimore. I wanted us to make love because it's what you needed." Munch carefully sat down on the bed and reached a hand out to just touch her. "Remember that?"

"I remember." Her tone of voice was troubling and she folded up more into herself. "I remember us being together... and the sex." Her voice began to crack and she wished he would just leave at that moment.

"I was in love with you before we even moved to that step," He whispered gently, tucking a strand of hair behind her hair and saw the tears threatening to fall in her eyes. "What's the matter?"

She shook her head and attempted to pull away. "I don't want to talk about that night, John."

"Why not? You knew I loved you, right?" Munch could feel his heart beginning to pound in his chest with fear. Part of him wanted to know what she was hiding and another part didn't.

Tears beginning to stream down her face and no long able to control her troubling emotions, Maria softly cried where she laid with a hand pressed against her face. "I-I am so sorry, J-John." A comforting hand touched her hand and felt him pull it away to look at her. Glancing in John's direction, she could see the disappointment beginning to appear in his features. "In the s-state I was i-in, I believed it w-was only s-sympathy sex. I-I didn't have any f-feelings for y-you at that t-time."

John Munch didn't move. Being in shock of this heart-breaking information from someone he loved and heavily trusted with his life, he was in complete shock. Inhaling a very slow breath and closing his eyes for a moment, he removed his hand from her's and tried his best to gather his thoughts. "You...you didn't feel anything towards me? You believe what we had was sympathy sex? A mercy fuck for my sake to not hurt my feelings?" He kept his tone level and carefully worded his sentences. Maria was already in a troubled state and didn't need him flipping out on her. "Did it change you're mind when I told you I loved you the next morning? Or have you just been humoring me for all these years?"

"No, I haven't been humoring you." She sat up slightly and attempted to dry her tears. "I really, truly love you more then anything in my life."

"Yeah. Now you do," He shot back bitterly and stood up. Staying calm was suddenly not important to him anymore. "God, I can't believe I thought I had the one thing I wanted! I can't fucking believe you, Mar. After all of these years, you drop this on me when I'm trying to help you?" He placed his hands on his hips and scolded in her direction, not being able to control the emotional pain in his voice. Maria started to feel feeble and small as he stood over her, tears stained her face as she attempted to make eye contact with him. "I can't believe you." His voice came out in a soft, but bitter tone. When she didn't say anything to him, Munch turned and walked out.

Fearing he was going to leave, Frank jumped up from where she was and moved quickly to see him leaning against the wall near the door, his coat in his hand. The closer she got to him, the more she could see tears slowly streaming down his cheeks. He was truly hurting and it broke her heart more then anything. "I-I told you that because I wanted you to know the truth. We rarely ever keep secrets from each other, but I couldn't tell you that one for the longest time."

He slowly turned his head in her direction and, softly crying, asked, "Why?"

"Because it goes back to them. My foster parents. They abused me; emotionally, physically, mentally, and verbally. I fought every night to survive." She moved closer to him until she was able to reach down and take a hold of his hand. It was shaking slightly from his anger and emotional pain. "They...had a whip they would use on me if I didn't behave in their eyes. There was a room that had boarded up windows so no one would be able to see what was going on and so I wouldn't be able to yell for help." She paused for a moment to move just a little more closer to him until she was able to see the pain and anger in his dark eyes. "You really want to know what happened, don't you?"

John finally nodded after a few minutes, but didn't move from where he was. Instead, he slide down the wall slowly until he was sitting against it, waiting for her to join him. When she sat down, he finally asked, "Do you love me?"

"Of course, I do. That night...I just wanted to feel something. I wanted to feel something other then disappointment and pain. All I have ever felt is pain the moment my mother killed my father and herself. When I was placed into foster care, I didn't expect much at all. I wanted nothing to do with this couple who were going to take me in. The second I was placed into their care, I was royally fucked. I can't even say their names just because of what happened for two years."

"These are the white supremacist couple, right?"

She nodded and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Right. They didn't do anything to be for the first week, but the abuse began soon after once they were able to find out I was really a Jew. The husband kept saying he was going to beat the Jew out of me, make me forget who I am and, the night I was turning eighteen, he was going to rape me." She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath. "I was beaten with the home made whip three times a week, depending on what I did wrong and was called various racist names. His wife would hold my head back by my hair and whisper to me what they were going to do to me when I was eighteen. I would fight through every beating I got until I couldn't fight them anymore and...would let them continue until they were done. They attempted to kill me once with an overdose of pain killers and instead rushed me to the ER to get my stomach pumped. I couldn't tell the doctors what really happened, so I told them a lie that I had accidentally overdosed. When the lacerations I would get from the beatings would be too deep to heal on their own, they had a doctor friend come over and stitch me up." Maria's face remained hard as stone as she finally recalled her terrible abuse.

Tears began to emerge in John's eyes again as he listened in horror. "What about the system? Why couldn't they-"

"We know how the system works, remember? They would send someone over once every few months and I would be ordered to say nice things about them, while wearing a long sleeve shirt to cover the bruises and healed scars. I had no support system, no friends and no one to trust. I had to escape."

"So, you ran away that night," He started softly, his anger subsiding as he began to understand.

"Yes. Took what money I had and ran away that night as I turned of age. Took a bus ticket to Boston and my life began there. Lived in a shelter for a few weeks until I was able to land a job busting tables, got enough money to rent a small shack in the city and began trying to find a real career for myself." She turned her head towards John and softly whispered, "That's why I didn't love you that night we were together. I couldn't because I didn't know how to, no matter how much I wanted to. But, when you told me you loved me the next morning, I-I was overwhelmed and finally began to understand what love really was and I just wanted to be with you from then on. I needed to feel something besides pain that night and you provided the real thing I needed; physical pleasure. If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have kept Scott after he was born. I would have placed him up for adoption instead. I would never stick around you out of pity, ever. To understand my foster parents, you have to understand what I was dealing with that night."

John sat in silence for a while, not being able to remove his gaze from her. She had always seemed so strong, but in the inside, she was a fragile soul that was fighting endless demons, trying to drag her back down. He finally understood her explosion at work, what she had just told him and her behavior since the case began. "You just wanted to feel something other then pain..."

"And you gave that to me. If I didn't love you, you would know. I do love you, John. Every single part of me loves you and I would do anything to protect you." Maria reached a hand out and gently touched his face, seeing slight uncertainly spark in his brown eyes. But she didn't falter as her whole hand finally caressed him and he finally leaned into it. "I wouldn't harm you like that. Now do you understand?"

He nodded slightly and sighed softly. "I'm sorry for loosing my temper. It honestly hurt when you said that and...I feared our relationship was over." He closed his eyes and fought back the tears that threatened to fall once more. "I-I so sorry."

"I'm sorry for giving you that idea I didn't love you," She whispered, pulling him in for a tight hug. "I didn't mean to do that to you." Taking his hands in her's, Maria slowly stood up and pulled him to his feet so they could really look at each other. Lowering her eyes and seeing their hands together, she asked carefully, "Do you want to stay the night?"

Feeling his heart pounding heavily from what had been happening, John knew he couldn't let it end there. "Mar, we can't just hang it up like that."

"What do you mean?"

Inhaling a slow breath and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he turned her towards the dining area and carefully sat her down at the dining table. "What I mean is that," he paused for a moment and got down to her eye level, grasping her hands firmly in his. "I need for you to tell me _everything _from your experience with those people." When her face went pale and her hands began to shake in his, Munch moved closer and instantly grabbed her attention. "Stay with me here, baby. This will help you more then you think it will. I will be here for everything you say and it has to be _every single _detail."

"_Everything_?" Her voice cracked slightly from what he said and her eyes widened slightly.

"Everything, Mar. This is going to help you a lot. I promise." He managed to keep eye contact with Maria as she struggled with his request. "I know this is a lot for you and overwhelming in such sort time, but I _need _for you do to this for me...and for yourself."

Frank wanted to pull her hands free from his hands and hide in the nearest closet, but to compassion in his eyes told her it was the right thing. "This is going to be really hard for me, John."

"That's why I'm going to be right here with you and, in return, I'll tell you what you want to know about my deepest memories." He reached a hand up and gently touched her face. "For me, please?"

Biting her bottom lip and inhaling a very deep breath, Maria exhaled it slowly as she nodded. "Okay. It's not going to be pretty, though."

"I know it's not going to be. That's why I'm here to support and help you." He pulled a chair over and sat down, folding his hands on the table and leaned in as she began.

**To be continued...  
There will be a disclaimer note in the next chapter about the upcoming content. What will be described will not be pleasant and will be in graphic detail. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU  
*There is going to be graphic abuse details, derogatory names, and other rather sensitive details in this chapter. Don't want to read it, skip to the next.***

Inhaling a slow breath to steady and brace herself, Maria placed her hands on the table top and asked, "Where will you like me to begin?"

"At the beginning of your parents death would be best, if you can." John Munch kept his voice gentle and low for her.

Nodding slowly, she finally began. "I was sixteen at the time and was dealing with my own teenage shit. My mother barely noticed it because of her work; she had a big project at work she had to finish up ninety percent of the time she was employed at the company. Dad was rising to the top of the business tower and his ego was blinding, but what wasn't blinding was an affair he was having at work. He would tell either mom or I he was going to be late getting home due to paperwork and reports he had to look over for the next day. He was really fucking his secretary three ways to fucking Friday every other day. I knew, since he would come home smelling of...sex and her perfume." She waved her hand in front of her face, suddenly remembering the smell. "Mom suspected it, but did nothing, but I knew what was going on."

John nodded his head and asked, "What did they do about it?"

"Nothing at first. Mom would say I was imagining it and dad said the same thing, except he wouldn't make eye contact with me when he said it. About a month before their deaths, mom bought a gun for protection, due to the rise in crime in our neighborhood. We weren't high in money or anything and spent most of the time paying off bills when money came in. She began to take shooting lessons and learned how to properly hold the weapon rather quickly. One night, she cornered him about the affair and demanded it to end. He stood his ground and said there wasn't an affair going on and she was just imagining things. She whipped that handgun so fast, dad could have aged a few years from the sudden movement." Maria paused and placed her hand over her mouth, her emotions started to surface once more and tears began to fall.

Moving closer and placing his hand on her shoulder for firm support, he took a hold of her other hand and gave it a squeeze. "Where were you during the whole time?"

She sniffled a few times and slowly removed her hand from her mouth. "I was hiding on the stairs, looking through the banister. They were both roughly ten feet from me, dad's back facing my direction. Mom forced him onto his knees and h-he began to beg for his life, stating he was g-going to end the affair that night. I couldn't see h-his face, but he was shaking all over and his v-voice was quivering in fear." Frank began to shiver under John's hands and he held her tighter, trying his best to keep her calm. "Mom didn't b-believe him and she placed the m-muzzle to his temple and," She paused once more, placing her free hand over her mouth again as she began to cry, gasping for air every now and then.

John kept his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. He was bracing himself for what was next more then anything at that moment. "You can do it," He gently whispered.

"T-There was blood all over the place. I didn't notice I was covered in my own father's blood u-until I looked down and there was brain m-matter in my hand." She glanced down at her own hands and balled them into fists. Bowing her head, her voice came out with no touch of emotion. "I couldn't believe what I had seen and it just didn't fully sink into my head until after I ended up in the system. I wanted to grab my mother and shake her, yell at her for what she had done, but I just sat there and said, 'How could you do that?' She turned to look at me and was almost like a robotic voice to her, like she had completely lost who she was and was replaced by something more terrible. Mom told me she was sorry for what I had seen, placed the pistol to her head and took her own life in front of me."

She shook her head slightly and inhaled a shuddering sigh, as if she had prepared herself to say it. "The police during that time just scratched their asses and dropped into children's services, who knocked me into a corrupt fostering agency. My parents were buried, case file for the murder/suicide was closed, our belongings scattered through the state and the house sold once it was cleaned. I only had a suitcase, my backpack, and the clothes on my back. My real troubles were only just beginning." Maria lifted her eyes and glanced into John's dark ones. "I'm going to need something to get through the rest of this, though."

"A Xanax?" He asked softly, knowing she had a bottle sitting in the first drawer in the bathroom.

Frank shook her head and replied, "In the cupboard beside the fridge is a bottle of tequila. Grab two shot glasses and skip everything else." She leaned her elbows on the table as he got up, heading into the kitchen to find the bottle and two shot glasses. He returned and she reached for the bottle, pouring them both a generous amount. "The agency was corrupt to the point they didn't care where they placed kids. The couple that got me were known white supremacists and the agency knew I'm Jewish, but they didn't care. As long as I was tossed into a foster home as soon as possible, the more they could extort more money from donations and what else they use to get money. Nothing happened for the first week while I was in their care - nothing good or bad. I was showed a room with just a bed and small dresser and that was it."

John watched her toss her head back to take down her drink and asked, "What happened after the first week?"

"The abuse began. I was shaken awake early one morning by the wife and she yanked me into the living room by my arm. Her husband was standing there with his hands behind his back and this...awful and threatening look on his face. When I asked what was going on, he slapped me hard across the face with his hand and ordered me not to talk unless they asked me to talk." She filled her glass and shot it down rather quickly, feeling the burn down her throat. "They told me the ground rules and hinted of what was to come while I was in their care; from mild abuse to beatings that would span to a few days. He said he knew I was, in his terms, a Kike and wanted to break me of my ethnic backgrounds."

Shaking his head and tossing back his drink, Munch reached for the bottle and refilled it. "They called you a 'Kike'?" Maria nodded her head and exhaled a slow sigh. "And 'breaking' your ethnic background? That's just...what makes them think they can do that?"

"Because they could in their minds. They had done it many times before with children of different ethnic backgrounds." She explained gently, glancing in his direction for a moment. "His wife circled around me and darned me to strike and fight back in during every 'session'. He pulled out a hand-made whip from a drawer and showed it to me, making me hold it to feel the short leather strap at the end of it. I knew it was going to hurt just from feeling it between my fingers." She made a hand motion, as if she was running an invisible strap between her fingers. "The first beating began that night when I didn't respond quick enough."

Maria made a motion to pick up her glass, but decided against it. Instead she continued on. "The husband took a hold of my left arm and...tossed me to the dining room floor. It was carpeted, but it still hurt the side I landed on and I yelped in pain, causing him more anger. He grabbed the front of my shirt and slapped me across the face so hard, I was seeing stars. I could feel blood starting to drip from my nose and I attempted to wipe it away, but he just slapped my hand away and punched me instead. His wife stood over him, calming me derogatory names over and over again; about how I was a terrible Kike child to be born into this world by other Kikes and I how I was going to grow up into 'penny-chasing' child if they had lived, because of what our income was at the time. He kept hitting me over and over again, calling my father a Sheister and my mother a Yenta."

When she went silent for a few minutes, John asked softly, "How long did the beatings last?"

"Felt like hours. I can't fully remember how long it went on, but it ended when he stood up, kicked me in the gut and spat in my face. I laid there for several hours, trying to comprehend what the hell happened, but never got to that conclusion when the wife came out from their bedroom and dragged me into my room, calling me a Yid as she slammed the door." Maria Frank finished that detail by resting her elbows on the table, her fingers running through her dark hair.

John sat in stunned silence for a long time; mostly fighting his anger at these people who abused her and mostly resisting the urge to wrap his arms around her. He wanted to tell her not to say anymore since he got the idea, but it wouldn't have helped her at all to move forward. Maria suffered the abuse for two years and she just got done telling him one day. Inhaling a very slow breath and shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Munch reached warm hand out and placed it on her shoulder. When she turned her head towards him, he saw the emptiness and emotionless stare in her eyes.

It broke his heart.

They stared at each other for a while, as if they were trying to read each other's minds. Finally, Maria leaned her head slightly to one side, brushing her cheek gently against his long fingers. "Do you want me to stop?"

He shook his head and exhaled a long-held breath. "No. I'm just trying to comprehend how y-you can still...," He paused, feeling the tears rising in his brown eyes. Munch inhaled a sharp breath to steady himself. "How you can do what we deal with - day in and day out."

"I don't know, either. I guess it's to save those from what I had, maybe." She rested her cheek against his fingers and felt them move ever so gently as he caressed her. "The abuse went on like that for a year, until I was starting to get closer to eighteen. The closer I got to legal age of consent, the more violent it got." Frank didn't move from her position, but she felt his fingers beginning to tense up on her shoulder. "The husband would often expose himself to me, showing me what was to come and describing what he was going to do."

"He wanted to rape you at legal age?"

"Big time. He kept saying that if he was to ejaculate in me, I would be one step closer to being one of them. If I was to give birth to his child after being raped over and over again until I was pregnant, I would be one of them. No matter how hard I tried to escape it, I would be one of them." She balled up her fists on the table and inhaled a rather quick breath. "If I was of legal age, he wouldn't get in trouble. That's his logic."

"What about his wife? What was her stand in it all?"

Frank shook her head slowly and explained, "She was in it all. It was a turn on for her to watch her husband abuse, traumatize, and rape children they would take in for foster care. She would often hold me in a chair - her sharp nailed fingers digging into my scalp to hold my hair back - as her husband would show me photos of the children they abuse for years from the corrupt agency."

"What happened to those children?"

"Many died from the beatings or killed themselves when they couldn't stand it any longer. Others had run away to escape it and, for those who survived and grew out of the system, who knows. The agency would cover up those who had died and write them off like they were cattle. It wasn't just Jewish children, either. They were black, Asian, foreign-speaking children who had no idea what Hell was upon them until that whip made contact with their flesh, tearing into skin until they would bleed and left in a pool of their own blood." She shook her head, surprised she had said it all without breaking down. the hard lump in her throat started to form once she thought about it. "I was left in a pool of my own blood several times and never fought back for my own mental safety. If I had fought back, I-I wouldn't be here." Maria placed her shaking hand over her mouth and began to softly cry. "And now...t-there are two l-little girls d-dead because of t-these people!"

John Munch wrapped his strong arms around her and held her close, extremely upset for what torture she went through and pleased she was finally coming out about her abuse. Tears stung as they left his eyes, leaving wet trails down his cheeks and landing gently in her hair. Maria gripped his arm and back so hard it was beginning to hurt him, but he didn't stop her from holding him as hard as possible. The only real safe person she had in her life was him and he wanted to stay that safe person - the one she could turn to for comfort, advice, questions and love. His arms were always open for her to crawl into and now he didn't want her to leave the safety of his arms.

Roughly fifteen minutes later of holding each other and Maria finally getting a chance to cry for those two sisters, John began to gently sooth her with gentle words. "I'm right here for you, Maria," he began, noticing her grip was starting to loosen from exhaustion. Once she started gasping for breath after crying for so long, he rubbed the back of her neck and carefully shushed her. "Shhhh. Easy now. Take in deep and slow breaths, okay?" Frank gradually followed his directions and took in shuttering breaths to calm herself. "There you go. You're doing just fine, sweetheart. Keep taking in deep breaths." He reached a hand out and grabbed for a napkin on the table, using it to dry his own eyes before folding it over and attempting to dry her face, wet from pressing it into his shoulder.

Pulling away just enough for him to dry her face and wipe her nose clean, he lowered his head to look in her face and brushed the napkin allow the tip of her nose and cracked a small smile, trying to get just a small crack of a smile from her. When she flashed a very brief and small one, his smile grew a little bigger and he said, "There ya go. Do you feel a little better from crying?"

"Yeah. Really exhausted now, though."

He nodded slowly and leaned forward, pressing his lips against her's. "I know. I'm exhausted, too. I just need to ask you one more thing, unless you don't want to go any further." Tossing the napkin into the waste basket and bringing next to his chair, he waited for her to say something.

"No, we should just get it over with." Her eyes scanned his face before looking down at the waste basket, having a feeling what it was going to be for. "What is it?"

Munch blew out a slow breath and gripped her hands in his, rubbing her fingers slowly with his. "To help find these people and track them down so we can arrest them, I need their names." Maria's face began to pale in front of his eyes and he quickly cupped her face with his hands. "I know this is going to be very hard for you, baby, but I need you to do this. For me, for you, those twin sisters and all of the other children they have abused, neglected and raped. Please."

Feeling her stomach beginning to roll at just the thought of saying their names, Maria nodded towards the waste basket and John brought it to sit in front of her. "I tell you their name first and then I'll say their first names."

"Okay." John reached for a pen and pad of paper to jot it down.

"Their last name is Greene," she whispered, feeling her stomach already beginning to freak out even more. She held onto John's other hand and he could feel she was beginning to sweat and shake.

"What's the wife's first name?" He asked softly, seeing her pale even more. He scooted the basket closer to her, knowing she was going to vomit.

Swallowing several times and deeply breathing to steady herself, she answered, "Mary." A thin layer of sweat had already begun to form along her forehead and she could feel it starting to come. She was so close to saying their names and getting it over with. "Husband's name?"

Releasing the pen and placing his hand on her shoulder, Munch could feel the sweat under her shirt. "You can do it." His tone was at a whisper and calming to her ears.

"Ken-" It did it. Maria quickly picked up the waste basket and emptied her stomach for several minutes. John moved swiftly to stand up and hold her hair back, closing his eyes to fight back his rising emotions to stay strong for her at this moment. Once Maria was left dry heaving and gasping for breath, he placed his hands on her back and her forehead, helping her lift her head up to get some fresh air. "Kenneth!" She cried out the name at last, her eyes closed from the terrible burn in her mouth and throat. "His name is Kenneth!"

"Shhhh." Munch gently took the basket and placed it on the floor, reaching for another napkin to wipe her mouth and chin off. Pressing his lips against her temple, he grabbed another one and wiped her tears. Maria wrapped her arms around him and tried her best to focus on his comforting words and gentle touches. "Thank you, Maria," he whispered close to her ear, continually kissing the side of her head. "Thank you so much for telling me. Let me catch him for you and everyone else they have touched."

They held onto each for a long time to comfort each other more then anything. It was finally over. Maria had finally faced what she had been running away from for so long and she wasn't alone this time.

John glanced at the clock for a second and saw it was four in the morning. They had begun talking around ten in the evening and it had taken her roughly all night to talk about what had happened. Gently lifting her into his arms, he carried her into the bedroom and placed her down on the bed, noticing she was no longer fighting the exhaustion. Grabbing a glass of water and letting her rise out her mouth, he held up the waste basket for her to spit into and finally tied off the bag to take care of a little later.

Once Munch made sure she was comfortable and the tied off bag was disposed of properly, he sat down on the edge of the bed and softly cried, hoping he wasn't going to wake her. He held strong for her, but now he had focus on finding the pair of scum who had done this to her and bring them to justice.

Raising his head to watch the sun slowly rising over the buildings, he knew it was all up to him and the rest of the squad to help her.

**To be continued...  
Took a little while longer since a classmate of my younger brother's had committed suicide due to be abused and couldn't bring myself to finishing this. So, this chapter is dedicated to Micky, who killed himself to end the pain and abuse he was living with all his life. He was 17 years old. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU. **

Barely seven in the morning and John Munch already felt like a hundred years old. The majority of the night was spent sitting up and listening to his partner, best friend and lover - Maria Frank - remember every terrible detail from being in the foster care of a couple who were now suspects in the rape and murder of twin Jewish sisters. Once the details were drained from her, sleep wasn't easy for either of them. Ten minutes into drifting off from emotional exhaustion, Frank woke up in a cold sweat and screaming for it to stop, the abuse and beatings blaring through her head like a movie reel. Munch, who wasn't asleep to begin, wrapped his arms firmly around her shoulders and held her close, feeling for any signs if she was going to be sick again.

Rubbing his face with a washcloth and staring at himself in the mirror, he had already called in to let Cragen know he wasn't going to be in on time, but he had vital information about this couple and Maria was to thank for it. He also placed in a call to George Huang to come over when he headed for work to watch her for a little while just in case. He blinked a few times as he let his eyes begin to focus again to the light of the bathroom before straightening up and walking back into the bedroom, reaching for work shirt and tie.

Knocked up on several drugs - Xanax included - Maria Frank laid asleep on the bed with the covers tucked securely around her. Placing two fingers on her neck and feeling her pulse beating steadily and strong under his fingertips, John felt comfortable enough to leave her alone to get some breakfast until Huang showed up. Zev, who had spent the majority of the night sleeping on the floor in the bedroom to give them both some space, was now on the bed. His large head was resting in the crook of her arm - his dark nose touching her neck as if to comfort her.

Shifting through the cupboards to find the oatmeal box, John heard a knock at the door and noticed it was George Huang. "Thanks for coming over, Doc. She really needs some help and I don't want to leave her alone today." He led the other man into the bedroom and showed her laying there. "You're welcome to check her over. I managed to get a few pills into her to just get her to sleep."

"What did you give her?" Huang asked, taking a hold of her wrist and checking his watch.

John ticked off what pills with his fingers. "Pain killers, Xanax and motion sickness pills. She continued to wake up every hour or so and bring up anything that was in her stomach, including bile. Just saying the names of her foster parents caused her to vomit."

George nodded his head and released her wrist gently. "Okay. Her pulse is really good and her skin color is just perfect. I have a few hours free today, so I can continue to stay with her and hopefully talk with her when she does feel ready to."

"I hope she'll talk. She and I still have stuff to talk about, but getting past the foster care was the priority." He kept his voice low as they both turned to leave the room, but a sound behind him caused him to turn around. Maria was attempting to wake up and Munch stopped. "Hey, Mar. What's the matter?" He sat down on the bed and placed his hand on her back when she sat up, hand over her eyes. When she shook her head, he nodded for Huang to leave them alone and softly asked, "Can you talk to me?"

She removed her hand from her face and muttered, "I think so." Exhaling a slow breath and lifting her head to look into his eyes, so noted he was dressed for work. "Going in today?"

"Yes, I have to. With the information you gave me last night, it will help finding them and bring them to justice. I called you in sick so you can just sleep and Huang is here to watch you for a little while. Not because I think you're going to do something," He added quickly, "But for your own wellbeing in case you want to talk or want to scream your lungs out and have someone to put them back in." He slipped in a small smile and waited for her to crack one, which she did. "There's that smile I love and cherish."

Maria nodded her head tiredly and sighed. Rubbing her eyes with the heel of her hand, she quickly realized she was still exhausted and leaned against John. "Going to come home early?"

"I'll try. If I can't, I'll call and let you know." He rubbed her back gently and pressed his lips to her forehead. "Need anything, just call me."

She flashed a small smile and nodded her head. "Okay."

* * *

"Well, I'll be damned. There they are." John Munch grinned in celebration. After searching the computer system for anyone with the names Maria provided for over two hours, he finally found them. "Look this sheet their biological son has, too." He turned his head towards Don and the rest of the team as they gathered around to see what he found. "He's been booked for robbery, breaking and entering, arson, plastering neo-nazi posters on synagogues, carving racial crap in the desks at school and other things people like him do." He blew out a breath and shook his head.

Don Cragen looked over his shoulder and whistled. "Wow. Any chance of tracking down these people and bringing them in? Their twin foster children are dead and they haven't been seen is a number of days now."

"Everyone's looking for them," Elliot explained as he answered his phone. He jotted down a few notes and hung it up. "Someone saw two people that match our description in Queens. What us to pick them up?"

"Go for it." Don sternly said and watched him and Olivia Benson leave to check it out. "What else did Maria tell you, John?"

Huffing softly and shaking his head again, Munch pinched the bridge of his nose and answered, "She told me they abused her so badly, she didn't feel safe telling anyone and...they showed her photographs of other children they had abused."

"How many?"

"Too many, actually. She remembered some of the children had died during the beatings, would run away, grow out of the system and disappear," He paused for a moment to inhale a slow breath. "To be honest, I'm actually surprised she survived as long as she did."

Cragen tilted his head to one side and asked, "Photographs?" John nodded in reply. "What are the chances they still have those photographs in their apartment?"

"For Maria's sake, they have better be there." Munch muttered. Scanning over the family's history with the law, it suddenly occurred to him the couple might also have photographs of Maria in their stash. "Oh, my God."

"What's the matter?"

He turned to face his boss and answered, "If they have photographs of all of the children they had abused, molested and raped, they must have photos of Maria as well." Don lifted his head slightly as it began to sink in. "Cap, she's going to want to be here to identify the photos. Since she was able to remember all of the information she gave me last night, she might just be able to recognize all of the children in those photos - even herself. I don't know what she looked like as a teen and, considering the condition she was living in, she probably didn't even look the same after ending up in their care."

Don finally nodded and said, "Call up Huang and let him know we might be needing her help. She can still be a detective and your partner on this case, but she has to control herself or else."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

George carefully walked into the bedroom and placed a hand on Maria's sleeping shoulder, phone in his hand. "Mar? There's a phone call for you," he whispered, placing the phone against his ear to speak to John. "I'm going to place the phone against her ear and I want you to talk to her since she's not stirring much."

_"Do it." _He placed the phone against her ear and waited, observing her as John began to speak to her. "_Maria? I need your help, sweetheart. We have a crack in the case and may have a caught the scent of the foster parents, but I need you to wake up so you can help us. C'mon. Make a sound for me." _She finally sighed in her sleep and stirred, reaching a sleep-stiffed hand out to take the phone and muttered his name. "_That's it, Mar. Just wake up a little more, okay?"_

She hummed in her sleep and used her other hand to rub her eyes. "I'm movin'." After a few minutes, she smiled into the phone. "Okay. Okay. I'll be down in forty." She handed the phone to George and slowly sat up. "I might as well get moving then."

"What's going on?" Huang handed her a pair of jeans and her glasses.

She slipped on her glasses and grabbed the jeans, stretching her back out. "They're trying to get a warrant to search the home with what evidence they have. With the beatings on the twins similar, the foster parents having disappeared the day the second twin was found dead, Abigail's blood written note in her hand with her own handwriting, hopefully that will give them a chance to get a warrant to enter the house."

"And why would they need you?"

"Because the foster parents have or hopefully still have photographs of every foster child they had abused, raped and molested over the years." She froze for a moment and lowered her eyes to the floor, pulling her shoes on slowly. "They're hoping I can identify the children in the photographs and...I'm in the stash as well." Maria lifted her eyes and glanced at George for a second. "Yeah, I know that look, but since it's to help the case, I feel fine to do this. If it's to stop that couple from causing anymore harm to future foster children and the corrupt agency to be shut down, I'll do it."

Huang exhaled a slow breath and sat down beside her on the bed, his fingers folded on his lap. He knew small tidbits of her past, but wasn't going to push her to say anything else. "You truly feel ready for it?"

She nodded her head slowly, bitting down on her upper lip. "Yes, I do. I told John about it all night long and," she paused for a second. "I just feel better knowing it's all out there. Sure, I'm going to continue to have nightmares about them, but at least it's finally out there and he knows. He wanted to know and I told him."

He nodded and stood up, knowing not to push her on the subject. "Ready to head to the department? I can drive you over."

"Sure. I won't be in danger of causing an accident with the state of my mind at the moment. Just the thought of looking at those photos again make me nervous." After leaving a message for the dog watcher and a note on the fridge door for Zev's needs that day, both Huang and Maria left the building and slipped into his car.

Watching them from a dark Sedan with darkened windows, a blond haired man with a frown narrowed his eyes and observed the car move away from the curb.

**To be continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU**

Maria slipped down into her work desk chair and looked around. The images on the board brought back terrifying memories, but she held her own. Stuffing her hands onto her sweatshirt pocket, she scanned the room and watched Huang step into Don's office for a moment and took the chance to see Munch walking down the steps from the second level. "Rough day?" She asked, just enough strength in her voice for him to hear her.

"Hey, are you all right?" He kept his smile small and professional, knowing 'eyes' were watching everywhere for unprofessional glances and touches. "Feeling any better?"

"Getting better, but looking at those images is pretty tough," she answered, nodding her head in the direction of the board and watched him flip it off to spare her seeing the dead twin sisters for a moment. "Where are Liv and Elliot?"

He thought of his words carefully before saying, "Picking up a couple that match the description of the girls' foster parents. They were spotted in Queens not long ago and it looks like they're trying to hide, but we won't know for sure until we get all the facts."

"The facts in my head are saying they're trying to hide, John," She muttered, barely moving her own lips as she gazed into his dark eyes. "They know I'm alive and in the city, both children they were suppose to protect are dead and I a sex crime detective who was on their case. They are either attempting to hide or...," She paused for a moment and shook her head.

Munch leaned a little closer over her desk and whispered firmly, "If anyone attempts to get you to cause harm, I'll be the first one to harm them before they lay a finger on you. Got it?"

"Got it." She agreed and resisted the urge to grab a hold of his hands and grasp them firmly in her own. When he gave her a small wink to reassure her, she cracked a faint smile and turned her head when Don approached them. "What's happening?"

"We're working on finding a judge who can get us a warrant for the couple's apartment and search for more evidence of abuse. If and when we find those photographs, we're going to need your help identifying the children in them and if there's a chance we can find them alive or not to face these people." His eyes scanned over his blank-faced detective and could tell she was hiding her fear and was hiding it well. "For now, we wait and see what the others bring back or if we get the warrant."

Maria sighed and lowered her eyes. "What are the odds we'll get a warrant with the evidence we only have, which is almost to ten percent out of hundred."

"We can only try," Munch reassured her and placed his hand on her shoulder for a moment. "Fin and I are going to try and get a warrant with what we have and see what happens. If we don't have enough, we can only hope we can find more soon."

"We'd better," she whispered back. "I don't want them out there much longer now. I want to face that bastard for the first time in years to show him he hasn't defeated me."

John could only sigh softly before leaving with Fin to find the ADA and find a reasonable judge.

* * *

"This is all you have?" The ADA, Frank Charles, asked. He gave both Munch and Fin a look and heavily sighed in concern. "Well, let's see what this gives us. The only judge I know I can get a hold of at this hour is Judge Korns. If you'd like to follow me and see what he says, we'll know if we have the warrant or not." Charles fixed his loosened tie and motioned them to follow him down the hall to a judge's chamber. After giving a swift knock on the door and getting a reply, the three men walked in.

"Ah, Frank. What brings you to my cave of the day?" Korns leaned back in his seat and scratched his middle-aged chin.

ADA Charles handed him the file and asked, "We're requesting a warrant to enter the household of a Mary and Kenneth Greene in suspicion of abusing and killing their twin foster daughters. The warrant will give detectives a chance to search for more evidence of abuse and items used for the abuse, based on the marks left on the two girls."

Korns paused for a moment after looking over what was in front of him and placed the papers on his desk slowly. "Greene?"

"Yes, sir."

"How are the foster parents suspects?"

Charles answered with a slow sigh. "They disappeared soon after the second daughter was found dead and are suspected of being in Queens. Two detectives are picking them up now to question them."

"You have your warrant," Korns sternly replied, signing the papers. Seeing he was being watched with curiosity from the three men. "I know this couple from years ago, when I was a young lawyer. I was their lawyer for the longest time." Placing his pen back down on his desk and handing Charles the warrant, he stood up and made eye contact with Munch. "Catch the bastards."

"We will, sir." John nodded, taking the warrant from Frank's hands and they swiftly left.

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Swiftly kicking in the door after announcing themselves at the door, John Munch and Fin Tutuola whipped out their weapons and scanned the house, uniform officers following quickly behind them with weapons drawn as well. The small house was eerily quiet, dark and gave all of them an uncomfortable feeling. Keeping his senses up in case a person jumped out at them, John felt chills go up his back when he thought he heard a very soft sound of a child crying in pain, only to discover there was no one in the building.

Opening a door slowly and seeing a room with no windows, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise when he heard a distant and ghostly scream in his ears. Closing his eyes and struggling to compose himself, he holstered his Glock and removed his transition glasses to place a hand over his eyes. _I'm not hearing this. I'm not hearing this! _Swallowing heavily and waiting until the voice finally faded, he slowly removed his hand and hoped to God he wasn't going to see a ghostly image of a child before him. When he didn't see anything of that sort, he sighed heavily and scanned around the room, flipping on the ceiling light.

What appeared to be dried blood splattered the dark walls and wooden floorboards. Even the clean ceiling light cover wasn't safe from being splattered and John heavily swallowed again, feeling the bile rising in his throat. From what he had gathered from Maria, years upon years of dried blood was embedded in every possible crack, dent and groove in the small and dark room. The knowledge of knowing this was where Maria suffered most of her time with this couple terrified him and felt the color drain from his face - he could be staring at years old blood from Maria and wouldn't have known it.

"John!"

Fin's voice snapped him out of his daze and flipped the light off, leaving the room as fast as he could to where Tutuola was standing. "What'd you find?" His dark partner held up a photo album with a pained face. "No way. Is that the photos Maria was talking about?"

"Looks like it. I skimmed it really fast to see what's in it and the images are not photos of children playing in parks. I didn't see one that looks like Mar, but I wasn't even thinking about that when I skimmed." He handed the album to Munch and watched as he flipped through it quickly. The colored images showed various children of different ethnics, races, genders and ages and all had the same expression - emotionless and dead stares. "How many children do you think are in there, Munch?"

"Gotta be a hundred or more in here. Hard to tell, really." Using a gloved hand to pull out one photo and flipping it over, he saw no date and no name. "Nothing on the back to know who this is right away, so hopefully Maria will be able to identify most of these, except for those who came after her." He tucked the photo back where it belonged. The blank stare of the girl in the photo gave him chills, until he noticed something familiar about it. "Oh, my God."

Fin straightened up from looking over a book shelf and turned his attention to his partner's pale face. "What's the matter?"

"It's Maria." His body felt cold and he pulled the photo back out, holding it close to his face. "This is her in this photo. Jesus Christ... look at these bruises." Both men looked over the tell-tale marks of small bruises on her face and neck with a big black and blue bruise over one eye. Her hair was tangled and messy, resulting from limited chances of getting clean and her remarkable green eyes were lifeless and empty. A cut on her bottom lip was in the midst of healing and the dingy wallpaper was the same in the room they were standing in. "This is it. This is the real house of horrors."

* * *

Resting her eyes for a moment in The Crib, Maria Frank rolled on her side and folded her arms over her chest to warm her hands. She was still exhausted from the night before and Don had ordered her to lay down for a few minutes to close her tired eyes and relax. Squeezing her eyes tightly together when an photographed image of a child flashed through her mind, Frank reached for an extra pillow and placed it over her head, wishing for it to absorb the haunting images that continued to disturb her. "Go away. Please, just go away," She whispered to herself, inhaling a slow breath to steady her breathing.

"Maria?" Don called her name gently and waited for her to turn and face him, seeing a unknown expression on his face. "John and Fin found something at the house."

"They got the warrant?"

He nodded sternly and watched her pull her ankle-high boots back on. "They did and CSU is still going over the property. They found a photo album with photos of children in it. They strongly believe it's the one you were talking about."

"They found it?"

"It seems to be the right one. There's possibly over a hundred photos in it of children of various ages, races, ethnics and genders. Sound familiar?"

Maria nodded her head and slowly stood up, rubbing her hands on her pants. "Yes, that sounds about right actually. Did they check over the entire house?"

"Most of it. The CSU team is doing the detailed work and keeping it wrapped up tighter then a clam's shell. John's not looking too good, however." Her face instantly changed to concern and he closed the door to The Crib, making sure no one heard them. "He's not saying anything, but mentioned something of a small dark room with dried blood splattered all over the place - including the ceiling light."

Frank paled and sat back down. "Jesus fucking Christ... **that **room." Biting her bottom lip and inhaling a slow breath, she raised her head and observed Cragen sitting down on the bed near her. "That's the room where ninety-nine percent of the beatings were in. Windows were removed long before they began their 'pet project' of turning different ethnic background children into one of their twisted Neo-Nazi life."

"That explains a lot."

She nodded her head slowly, exhaling a breath through her nostrils. "Yep. He helped me and now I need to help him, once we figure out the photo album. Makes me wonder where the survivors are, if many are still alive that is."

Don nodded his head in one direction and mentioned, "Well, you're still here, right?"

"Right."

"So," he paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Maria was possibly one of his best detectives and kept her badge clean when it came to doing her work. She followed his orders, rarely questioned the methods to his madness, and only brought up concerns about his methods to him and didn't talk about it behind his back. "You watched your parents commit murder and suicide, you survived the abuse and neglect of foster parents, ran away to save yourself and lived in Boston, gave birth and lost a child to the first man you've ever loved, raped and tortured by a former Boston partner and you are **still **here with us. **You**, Maria D. Frank, are a fighter."

Sitting in silence for a few minutes while she thought over what he said and allowed various images of what he had mentioned flash through her mind, she held her chin up high and stood back up, looking down at her boss. "Let's do this."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Once entering the squad room and seeing the photo album on John's desk, Frank reached a hand out and slowly traced a finger gently over the spine. The rough leather brought back many memories from being constantly drilled about names and faces by the foster parents. "Been a long time, book." She muttered, clenching her jaw tightly and imaged herself tossing it into the fiery pits of Hell. "Where's John?" She asked, noticing he wasn't around once she lifted her head, removing her hand from the book.

Fin nodded towards the direction of the restrooms. "He's not lookin' good, baby. Headed that way a few minutes ago and didn't say a word of why."

"I know why," She sighed out, heading towards the direction Fin's head nodded in. Knocking on the men's room door and peering in to see no one else was in the restroom except the sound of someone being ill, Maria quietly walked in and pushed stall doors opened until she came across one that was locked. Knocking once on the door, she asked softly, "John?"

"Go away." Came a hoarse voice from the other side. "This stall is taken. Try the next one, fella."

"John, it's me. It's Mar." Knowing he was having a hard time recognizing her voice, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against separator of the bathroom stalls. "Don told me you weren't looking too good and then Fin tells me you headed in this direction and didn't tell anyone." She kept her voice low and gentle, trying to get him to unlock the door and let her in. "I saw the photo album, I heard you saw the windowless room and the dried blood. Don't tell me you're just doing the call to nature."

Coughing what vomit was still hanging around his throat and grabbing for a few squares of toilet paper to wipe off his mouth, he reached a hand back and fumbled with the lock, undoing the door a few moments later. "I must have had some bad yogurt or something. Need to toss those and get fresher ones at the store next time."

"Yeah, sure." Maria carefully opened the door and saw him kneeling in front of the toilet, his legs shaking from being sick and his hands gripping the round edges of the porcelain Goddess. She could clearly see the back of his neck was wet from sweat and his transition glasses had been placed on the back of the toilet. "Oh, baby... I'm so sorry you had to see it in person," She apologized gently, walking into the small space and placing her hands on his back. The muscles between his shoulder blades were spasming and his upper arms shook from the strain. "I'm so sorry."

He shook his head slowly, gripping the seat harder as another wave of nausea washed over him. "I-It's not your fault. I was going to see it whether you wanted me to or not," He explained hoarsely, bowing his head as his body struggled to either bring up more stomach contents or not. Breathing heavily, his body gave up the fight and gave into bringing up more. Maria quickly grabbed for some paper towels and got them as cold as possible from the sink water. Wringing one out just enough, she placed it on the back of his neck and used the other to cool down his face once he lifted his head slightly. "This isn't stopping, no matter how much I try to fight this."

"Don't fight it. Just let your body do what it needs to do." Frank held the paper towel to his forehead and gently kissed the back of his head, feeling the sweat against her lips. Using her other hand to rub his back and shoulders firmly, she listened to him panting heavily and wished for that moment, she could remove those images from his memories. "Just focus on breathing, John. Open your eyes and focus on steadying your breathing."

Opening his eyes slowly and allowing tears to fall down his face, he reached a hand out and tapped down the handle to flush the toilet. Slowly swallowing and feeling himself starting to finally relax the more he focused on breathing, John released the toilet edges and carefully adjusted his legs until he was almost sitting on the floor, leaning against Maria's legs for support - the same thing she did once she faced her rapist those years ago. "I think that's it," he whispered slowly, his throat sore and burning from being ill. "I can't stand being like this, especially with you seeing this."

"Don't worry about it now," Maria sighed gently, removing the wet paper towel from the back of his neck and used it to wipe his mouth clean. Carefully hoisting him up and sitting him down in the handicapped stall toilet to get a few more fresh cold paper towels and cool him down. Slipping her fingers in his tie and loosening it to dab his neck with one paper towel, Frank began to notice his color was starting to slowly improve. "Hey." He raised his eyes and look straight into her's. "I'm proud of you. Not many would be able to look at the contents of that building and walk out without burning it down."

"I wanted to, but it would have made it difficult for CSU to find any valuable evidence we're going to need." John explained, his voice still hoarse and, when Maria ran her fingers through his salt and pepper hair, still soaked in sweat. "Would have also been difficult for you to find closure in this shit of a case."

Taking a moment from cleaning him up to straighten up and place her hands on her hips, Maria looked down at him and thought over everything they had been through since Adva's body had been found. It was a surprise to her to believe Munch had hung on as long as possible before his body began to rebel. "Feeling good enough to write down some names when I look through that album?"

Inhaling a deep and slow breath, John slowly nodded his head and straightened his tie. "I'm going to get some cold water and find my mouthwash first before we go any further. Mind giving me a few minutes?"

"Sure." Standing back up and cupping his chin for a moment with a sad smile on her face, Maria gradually released him and gave him the space he needed to clean up and prep himself to facing the case once more. Slumping down in her desk chair and exhaling a slow breath, she balled up her left hand into a fist and stared down at the scar from many years ago. Smirking to herself and seeing Munch had finally returned - dressed in a spare shirt from his locker - she knew it was time. "Let the games begin."

**To be continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation, along with several other characters that I made up just for this fic. John Munch and SVU company belong to Law and Order: SVU.  
Might be sensitive material in here, depending on a person's level of...taking in troubling material. **

Reaching a hand out for the photo album Don held out to her, Maria Frank looked down at it and observed the tarnished and damaged leather covering. "Ready to do this?" Cragen asked gently, knowing they were all walking through a part of Maria's past she had hidden for so long.

"Yes, let's do this," she answered with a stern look on her face, nodding towards the board to get Fin prepared to write down names. "There's going to be a lot of names, so be ready to not have a break for a while." Slowly opening the heavy album - the sound of it opening echoed through the room - she glanced down at the first image and licked her lips slowly. "First one is Becky. She was eight years old when taken in and hung herself three years later." She traced a finger over the small photograph of the little girl and glanced down at the next one. "Michael. Was three years old and was dead within a year."

"Heather. Was fifteen and ran away a month later. Was killed when a car hit her when she managed to escape."

Drew. Ten years old and was raised until he was an eighteen. Dropped off the face of the Earth."

"Faith. A year old and was smothered to death on purpose. Death was covered up as SIDS."

"Morgan Lewis. Entered the system at seventeen and dropped when he was eighteen. No idea where he is."

"Vargo... Georgie... Johnny... Gretchen... Allyssa Anne... Margot..." Several hours into listing off the names, Maria had dried tear stains down her cheeks, but continued on. Fin was quickly writing down the names of the children, ages and what became of them as she mentioned them, his blood had gone cold after the first name, but he continued doing it. Cragen was still waiting for Elliot and Olivia to return with the foster parents and a call from CSU about what they had found at the house. John, hiding behind his dark transitional glasses, kept his arms crossed at his desk. "Sidney... Merlin... Doris... Jamie... Mary Joe... Tasha..."

Pausing when they heard a phone ring in Don's office, all three watched their captain head towards his office quickly and waited until he reappeared a few minutes later. "They got the couple and they match the description of the foster parents."

Heavily swallowing and glancing at her boss, Maria stated, "I'm not going to lie, Don. Feels like I'm going to wet myself if I see them at this second."

"They're not going to be paraded through here just yet. El and Liv are going to separate them and put them in different rooms to chat with them. Basic chat at first and then we'll dump what we have on their laps and see who cracks first."

Frank snorted and chuckled to herself. "Good luck with cracking Kenneth. Mary's easy to work over since she really follows in his footsteps, but he's the brain of the operation. He's the one who's in control of everything and anything that goes on in their lives."

"He's not in control anymore, Maria." John softly reminded her, remembering a case in his beginning years of Special Victims. "He may have been in control then, but he's not now. He's in our area and our turf now. If he messes with you and tries to play with your mind, he's messing with us and all of us are going to stand behind you. We all care about you." Munch was saying 'us' in a general term, but he was really talking about him and her and she could tell from his tone. "Got that, partner?"

Lowering her eyes and glancing down at the photo of a child named Zake, Maria Frank thought over his words and reminisced over how much they had been through together since the second they saw each other in Baltimore and held onto each other through every difficult part of their lives. She vaguely remembered him holding her as she slept during the night, his words telling her it was going to be all right once they were in custody. "All right. Let's finish this then."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Several hours later:

"And this is Zoey Jones, the foster daughter before I came along. Ran off, was caught by the corrupt agency and handed back to Mary and Kenneth. They murdered her that night." She snapped the album shut and leaned heavily back in her chair, rubbing her eyes. "Her body wasn't even cold when I was handed to them."

Fin turned around with the marker in his hand, a dark brow raised. "Wait. They murdered her that night?" She nodded her head slowly, reaching for a soda Munch had placed there some time earlier. "That's the same way Abigail died."

Sitting up straighter and opening the book once more, Maria counted the number of children who died after being handed back to the couple. "That's their M.O. If a caught foster child was handed back to them, they were killed. Same happened to Abigail and - after Kenneth saw me - they decided to run."

"That and you might be in danger, too." Don brought up, placing his hands into his pockets. "You know all of this information, the husband recognized you, the second twin was murdered and they soon tried to leave the city. You are not going anywhere without someone with you, Frank."

_Great. I don't want to be baby-sat. _Maria thought bitterly, narrowing her eyes when she glanced in one direction. "Fine, but I want a chance to talk to them."

Don shook his head slowly. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"What if I have someone with me when talking to them?" _Would keep me from killing them. Maybe._

"We'll see, but for now," He blew out a breath gently. "How about going back home and taking a breather for a while. We all know you've been struggling and working hard with this case." He glanced over at John and noticed he was also looking pretty pale. "Same with you, Sergent. Elliot and Liv will grind them over a little-"

"No!" John made his voice be heard and cut off his Captain. "I want a whack at the husband. He's the one who caused the most damage in these children's lives," he motioned to the huge number of names on the board and the unnamed ones still in the album. "I'll take a crack at Kenneth and then I'll take a breather."

Cragen inhaled a slow breath and folded his arms over his chest, thinking it over slowly. "Fine, but once you are done, I want you to take some time off."

* * *

Once Maria had finally been taken home and the foster parents had been placed in different rooms, John found himself chewing on his bottom lip a little more then he wanted to. He stood by one interrogation room and watched Kenneth Greene straighten his jacket and fold his hands on the table.

Fin, who was watching the wife, watched her fixing her hair in the one-way mirror before sitting back down. The years had certainly caught up with the pair, but they were turning to the bottles to keep their hair as blond as possible. Mary's eyes continued to shift towards the door as she knew someone was going to come through at any time. Kenneth, however, seem to have known someone was behind the one-way and kept his dark and cold eyes locked where John was standing. Now he understood why Maria still feared this man - the vibe he gave off was chilling, cold-hearted, and seemed extremely dangerous. "Time to dance with the Devil," he muttered, placing his hand on the doorknob.

"Why am I here?" Kenneth asked sternly once the door was shut, his cold eyes scanning Munch over. From the sight of his eyes narrowing, Greene didn't like what he saw.

"Well, let's start with the fact both of your foster daughters are dead and you are no-where to be found." John wasn't going to play twenty questions with this person and got right to the point. "After Adva is found dead, you take her twin sister home and then she ends up dead, with my partner's business card in her hand. Sounds suspicious to me."

Kenneth huffed loudly and leaned forward in his chair, smirking at the Sergent. "Look, Yid, the words you are saying means nothing to me. I don't know those two girls you are talking about and I know nothing about what happened to them."

Munch lowered his voice to a dangerous level. "You should because you and your wife were responsible for those girls and now, they are dead in the morgue. You took on the job of all of these children," he placed the photo album on the table and opened it, "and most of them are dead, missing, druggies, pros or unknown."

"Except for one," Greene smirked with a snort. "Nice to see she's working sex crimes. Must get her rocks off working with the bad boys, huh?" His slate blue cold eyes stayed locked on John's brown ones for a long time, waiting to see if he had pushed a button.

But John didn't flinch. "She's a good detective, no matter what you did or tried to do." Kenneth's eyes narrowed and Munch gave him a barely visible smirk. "She told us everything you had done and tried to do, found all of the evidence in that shack called a house, dried blood, the blood of the twins on the bed in the master bedroom and other various things that will give you the needle."

"Hardly. How can you prove I did it? Did you find my D.N.A on those girls? All I did was give them a roof over their heads, food in their little Jewish bellies, clothes to keep them warm and beds to sleep on." He leaned in closer until his nose was inches from John's. "I did nothing wrong to those girls nor to the rest of those children in that book. How do you know _she's _telling the truth about it? Seeing her parents killing each other would certainly be good enough for _me _to lock her in the rubber room."

"See, the thing is we believe her because she's always been honest with us, trusting, and would take a bullet to protect any of us. You are a twisted little man who gets his rocks off torturing and abusing children who are in need of a helping hand." The Sergent continued to stare straight into the man's eyes to show he wasn't afraid. "You and your wife are never going to hurt another child ever again and I'll make sure of that."

Kenneth chuckled and sat back in the chair. "Yeah, sure. We'll see who believes who, _Sergent_."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

"He is one nasty piece of work, Cap," John sighed out heavily when he walked into Don's office. "He recognizes Maria and knows who she is, he sneered at the fact we might not have any of his DNA on the twin girls and doesn't give a _shit_ what he's done. He believes he's innocent!" He slumped down in a chair and pressed his fingers to his left temple. "I'm honestly not surprised Maria didn't kill herself to get away from him."

Cragen inhaled and exhaled a slow breath as he watched Munch fume for a few more minutes in silence. "Don't let his hate towards you and Maria cloud your thoughts, Munch," He finally said after a while with a gentle tone. "Maria needs you to be strong for her during this rather difficult time."

"I'm trying to, Don. I really am trying to, but how can some piece of shit like that be allowed to take in children and treat them like they're trash? Worthless pieces of trash just to be tossed out once they're of no use." Munch pressed his face into his hands and inhaled a very slow breath to steady his nerves. "What do I do now?"

Cragen placed his hand on John's shoulder and gently squeezed it until he lifted his head. "Go home, be with Maria and we'll bring her in tomorrow to face her demons first and for all."

"You sure about it? Just being in the room with that man without him talking is hard enough. Is tomorrow going to be too soon for her?"

"We have to do it, John. The sooner she faces that man, the sooner she can move on. Taking it slowly is only going to prolong her emotional and mental pain." Don kept his voice low and calm, to show Munch he was concerned about her welfare as well. "Go home and be with her. The others can deal with booking him and his wife and getting things taken care of."

Glancing up at Don's face and heavily sighing, John finally stood up with a "Fine," muttered under his breath. Once he was ready and heading to his car, he didn't notice a strange figure sitting on the steps in the shadow of the building across the street. The unknown person didn't even move when the dark car pulled away - only turned its head to watch what direction he drove in.

**To be continued...**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch belongs to Law and Order: SVU, along with the other Law and Order named characters. Anyone else named is made up from the mind just for this fic.**

Rubbing her temples firmly and trying to will away the mental pressure of what was ahead of her, Maria Frank braced her elbows on the table top and sighed. Since coming home with Huang at her side, she hadn't moved from the table chair for the passed few hours with the fear of what John was faced with. he had faced many twisted suspects in his life, but Kenneth was a nasty piece of work who would burrow deep under his flesh until Munch was ready to tear his flesh off just to get him out. Maria knew that feeling well, considering how much she was scratching at her arms every time she thought of the Greene's.

Hearing a key in the lock and the front door opening, she lifted her head to see John enter in and felt her heart beginning to pound hard in her chest just from seeing his sullen expression. "What happened?"

"He is a nasty creature, Mar," he answered with a heavy sigh once the door was shut. Nodding in George's direction, he removed his work jacket and hung in on the back of a table chair and slipped down in it, eying Maria's tea. "What kind is that?"

Waving her fingers in the direction of the box on the kitchen counter, she answered with, "Peppermint," as he took her mug and took a sip. "It's cold, but still affective."

"As long as it works, I don't care." He folded his arms on the table before resting his chin on them, letting out a long sigh. "I just want to forget this day."

"What happened?" Frank asked gently. Glancing up at Huang, she nodded her head and he took the chance to leave to give them some space. Last thing they needed was him watching their private conversation. "Did...he get to you?" When John didn't say anything, she reached a hand out and slipped his transitions off to see his eyes. When he glanced up at her without a word, she repeated her question softly. "What happened when you talked to him? I know you did."

Shifting his eyes to look in the other direction, his nostrils flared when he exhaled a breath and looked back at her. "How can you tell?"

"Easy. You wouldn't look so depressed and pissed at the same time." Maria scooted closer and ran her fingers through his hair slowly to help him calm down a little. "If you can't muster the strength to say anything, can you show me in some way?" He shrugged slightly and closed his eyes for several minutes before opening them. "Want to lay down instead?"

After a long pause, John nodded and slowly rose from the chair with Maria following suite. Once inside the bedroom, she watched him begin to remove his work clothes and stepped forward to help him. Grasping his hands in her's, she tilted her head slightly and saw the tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that piece of," he paused for a moment to inhale a deep breath to steady himself. "That piece of shit."

"I'm sorry you talked to him." She whispered back, touching his face gently. "I know you wanted to face him, but I'm still sorry." Munch nodded his head slowly in understanding and looked down at their hands, swallowing heavily. "What would you like me for to do for you? You helped me bring it all out and now I want to help you in return."

Raising his head to look at her properly, John cracked a very small smile and muttered, "Make love?"

"Maybe, but that will have to wait. I can't bring myself to make love with you yet. Not after what we dealt with today, but maybe in a few days. Does that work for you?" Maria explained and smiled when he smiled, agreeing with her. "What else is there you want?"

"If we can't make love, how about we lay together with nothing between us? I promise I'll be good."

Staring into his eyes and seeing how honest he was being, Frank placed her hand on the side of his head and whispered, "I can't resist those puppy-dog eyes of yours. Of course we can do that. We can cuddling and talk, cuddle and not talk, or just lay entangled together until we fall asleep." She closed her eyes when he rested his forehead against her's. "Love you, John."

Giving her a tight smile, John wrapped his arms securely around her and nuzzled her neck. "Love you, too."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Barely three in the morning, Munch laid awake with Maria in his arms as he thought over the events from that day. He couldn't understand how someone would take in helpless children without love in the world and abuse them. Somewhere out there was a biological son to the couple and he didn't have a clue where he was. Tracing her bare back under his fingers and hearing Kenneth's words rolling around in his head, he could finally understand the fear and hate she held for him and his wife. For a few minutes, he closed his eyes in an attempt to get some sort of rest, but it harder then he really thought.

He gently moved Maria's sleeping body off of him and sat up. Maybe if he had some hot tea to mull over his worrying thoughts, he would get a chance. Before he had a chance to even tie off his robe, his cellphone went off on his side table. Glancing down at the caller ID, he frowned slightly and flipped it open. "What?" He listened for a moment before his frown became more prominent. "Say that again?"

_"Someone broke into the children home and kidnapped a little girl. The perp matches the Greene's son right down to a T. The little girl was due to move into the Greene's house next week."_ Don's voice repeated rather quickly as he began juggling a few things. _"We don't know where he is or where he could be hiding, but the suspects might. Kenneth isn't saying anything, but requested to see Maria before telling us."_

"And you really think that's a good idea?"

Cragen sighed into the phone._ "John, I know you're protecting her, but this might be the way to do it. Liv couldn't get anything from him, Elliot was pulled out before he slaughtered the man and Fin was barely able to get a word out before the racial slurs started. Mary's not talking, but Kenneth requested to talk to Maria._"

Munch softly groaned and looked where she was laying down. She looked so peaceful as she slept and he began worrying about her mental health when she would hear the news. Contemplating it for a few more seconds, he agreed. "Okay, fine. We'll be there in twenty." Closing his phone and partially laying on the bed, he slowly ran his fingers through her hair and began to wake her gently. "Mar? I need you to wake up, hun."

Frank moaned in her sleep and rolled over, her back to him. When he called her name again and began to rub her back firmly to get her moving, Maria slowly pushed herself up and glanced over her shoulder. "What?"

"Don called. A little girl was kidnapped from the Children's home who was due to be placed into the Greene's care." Her eyes went huge and she grasped his arm firmly with one hand. "Shhh. Everyone's looking for her, but Kenneth isn't saying anything except he wants to talk to you."

"Why me?"

"I don't know. He probably knows where the little girl is, but he's not saying anything. Mary's keeping quiet." He ran his fingers through her hair and tucked a dark strand behind her ear. "Please? Can you do this?"

Heavily swallowing and fighting the rising panic attack in the pit of her gut, Maria fought over her wanting to run away and her wanting to face the bastard for the first time in a long time. "Okay, I'll do it."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Walking into the squad room and seeing every known person was scrambling around in an attempt to find the little girl. Don whistled for their attention and waved them into his office. "Kenneth isn't talking, but he keeps saying your name," he pointed at Maria, "and that's it."

"What do I do? What do you want me to do?"

"Face him. Tell him what you've been wanting to tell him all your life if you want to. He doesn't want a lawyer and he believes he's innocent in the whole thing." He shoved his hands into his pockets and stood close to the woman. "Give him your fury. Unleash it all within words."

Inhaling a deep breath and releasing as slow as possible, Maria closed her eyes for a moment to think. Feeling a hand on her back and John firmly rubbing to help relax her a little, Frank opened her eyes and glanced in the direction of the interrogation room that connected to Don's office. In the room, staring at the one-way mirror, was Kenneth. "I want to face him, but I don't want to face him at the same time. I hate him more then anything in the world, but I fear him, too."

John leaned close to her and whispered, "Stop turning away from him. You faced your rapist, you faced the abuse and torture you went through for five hours and you survived. Since that was dealt with, you have become a much better and stronger person then Kevin ever was. Face Kenneth, help find the little girl and lock away this part of your past so you can become even stronger." She turned her head to look into his eyes and saw he meant his words. "You can do this. Unleash it all onto him with words, sweetie."

Turning to look back at Kenneth sitting cuffed at the table, she felt her anger beginning to rise for the missing girl and their history together. "Alright. I'll do it, but don't step in unless you feel like you need to. If I attempt to kill him to get that information, then you can step in."

Don nodded and turned on the speaker. "Okay. Try not to take too long, though. Time is very important and the sooner you get that information, the sooner we can find the child."

"Got it." Maria walked out of his office, inhaled a deep breath and slowly opened the door to the room.

Kenneth slowly turned his head in her direction and gave her a small smirk. "Ah, Maria. Pretty, precious Maria. My perfect and favorite foster child. You look well," He whispered slowly and with a hint of chilling sweetness.

"And you're still the slimy piece of shit as I remember," She whispered back with the same tone.

He shook his head and wiggled a finger at her. "Tsk. Tsk. Such language to come from that beautiful mouth."

Walking forward and placing her hands on the table, Frank began to lean in with a dangerous expression on her face. Her eyes were on fire. "Kenneth," she began very softly and something flashed in Greene's eyes that made her lean in even more. "Where do I put my hate?"

He swallowed heavily.

**To be continued...**  
**Sorry this took so long. Been very, very busy and have had very little time to do anything with this and a few others I'm tackling. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer - Maria Frank is my own creation. John Munch and others belong to Law and Order: SVU.**

"Where's the girl?" Maria asked in a soft by dangerous voice.

Kenneth's eyes scanned over her face before smirking. "What makes you think I'm involved?" He gave her a chilling smile and his blue eyes traveled down to her chest.

Frank took notice and pounded the table with her fist. "PAY attention, fucker. I'm not playing games with you. You destroyed my life and have haunted my dreams, but not anymore, motherfucker. What? Was it your son that kidnapped that little girl?" Greene's jaw went tight as he clenched his teeth, his nostrils began to flare. "If your son does anything to that little girl, even bruising her arm from dragging her around, he'll get the needle."

"You're bluffing." He narrowed his eyes and was now snarling. "They wouldn't kill him for one little girl."

"Oh, yeah? What about the other children he's harmed? I remember him when I was with you. Watching him stroke the weasel during those late nights when you were not around was enough to imprinted his ugly, inbred mug into my head. Those twin girls you had in your care? We have DNA from them and it matches either you or your son." Maria Frank leaned in on the desk and glared right at him. "We already know who it was and it certainly wasn't you. What he had done in those quiet nights with me would make your pure blood boil."

Kenneth glared right back and frowned. "My son wouldn't touch any of my special children without my permission. He knew better then that. He knows that I'm in charge and will not allow him to even penetrate anyone without me taking first bite."

"Well, you failed with me and now he's all alone with that little girl without you to watch over him-"

"I'll kill the bastard first before he lays a hand on a perfect little girl!" Greene pulled at the handcuffs holding his hands, moving the table ever so slightly. "He wouldn't break his father's rules!"

Frank grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him forward. "He has and he's going to! He's the one who raped those twin girls and he's the one who killed them, right?"

"NO!" Kenneth spat. "I'm the one who killed them because he defiled them! I caught him with Adva when I heard her screaming and had to kill her since she was now useless to me. There was no way I was going to fuck her with my son already penetrating her." He struggled from Maria's grasp and sat down with a thud on the chair. "You're lucky I didn't catch him defiling you. I wouldn't have allowed you to live after what he had done."

Straightening up and crossing her arms over her chest, Maria heavily sighed and asked softly, "What about Abigail? Why her?"

"Caught him raping her, too. The same night we brought her home, I caught him walking out of her room and straightening his belt."

"She didn't have to die."

"Yes, she did. She was a tainted Kike and useless to me. Damn bitch didn't go so easily, though." His blue eyes gazed in Maria's face and he smirked. "I still say you were my best work, even though you ran that night."

"Go fuck yourself," Maria hissed out and walked out of the room. The second the door was closed, she slipped down to the floor and pressed her face into her hand. A hand on her shoulder startled Frank and she looked up. "You got what you needed. I know where you need to look."

Don nodded his head slowly and asked, "Where?"

"Their house."

M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M*M

Checking her Glock and double checking her kevlar vest, Maria heavily swallowed and stared up at the 'House of Horrors'. Not long ago, John had broken down after leaving the place when they found evidence and now they were about to head in to save a young child who had been kidnapped."John, I don't know what I'll do if I face this man, but if I attempted to kill him, stop me." She whispered quietly enough for only him to hear. "I want this entire family dead, but I know I can't do that."

"Hey, you've gotten this far. I've got your back, though." He gave her a small, sad smile and they shoved the door aside, announcing their presence. All was silent in the house and he gave Frank and the uniforms a hand signal to spread out and begin looking. Two uniforms headed in one direction while he and Maria headed in another, watching each other's backs and staying close together.

Holding her breath for the slightest sound, she scanned each room and then froze. A small squeak reached her ears and she lifted her head to the ceiling. John froze where he was and motioned he was going to head up the stairs first. Maria firmly shook her head and he frowned at her. Keeping silent, they glared at each other for a few seconds before John allowed her to go first. They quietly headed up the stairs and listened for the smallest and slightest sound. The sound of a child whimpering was becoming more apparent and a male voice saying, "If you don't shut the fuck up, I'm going to do it for you."

Raising their Glocks and pressing their backs against the wall, Maria yelled, "This is the NYPD. Let the child go and this can end quietly."

"Fuck that shit," came the voice from the room and several loud bangs quickly followed. They both held their breaths until they heard the little girl sobbing. "I dare you to step in here, Missy! I'll blow you're fucking brain out!"

"Are you sure you want to do that, Glen?" Frank asked, her eyes frozen on an exit shot from when he randomly fired off. It was perfectly between their heads. John let out a relived sigh and shook his head at her, not believing their luck. "Glen?"

There was only silence from the man and whimpering from the child. "How the fuck do you know my name?"

"I lived with your parents for two years," she started, holding her Glock up and close to her face. "You would come into my room and stroke yourself while your parents slept."

"Show your face," Glen demanded, pushing the little girl into the far corner and pointing the muzzle of his pistol away from the doorway. "I'm not pointing the gun at you. Come out."

John quickly grabbed her hand and shook her head firmly, his heart beginning to pound heavily in his chest and fear in his eyes. "Don't," he whispered. "It could be a trick."

"I need to, John." Maria whispered back, placing her hand on the side of his face, his fingers gently stroking his skin. "I'll be okay. If you see the officers, signal them to not come up unless I say so." She slowly pulled away from him, his hand slowly slipping out of her's. Peering around the corner carefully, she saw his gun hand pointing in a different direction - away from her. "Glen?"

"Who are you? How the fuck do you know me?" His blue eyes pierced straight at her, his dirty blond hair was unkempt and she could smell the alcohol from where she stood.

Inhaling a slow breath, she stated, "It's Maria Frank. Ring a bell?"

"Step out!" He demanded loudly.

Sucking in a calming breath and showing him her gun hand extended out. "I'm coming out. I mean no harm." Maria slowly stepped out and saw the real person they were hunting for - Glen Greene. One of the men who haunted her dreams. "Remember me now?"

Glen smirked and huffed loudly, using his free hand to motion in her direction. "I remember you now, kike. I often wondered where you went off to." He holstered his pistol in his belt and walked towards her slowly, as if getting ready to circle her like a vulture. "You sure didn't look like kike and you don't now." He glanced down at her hands and gave a sickly grin. "No ring? No one to settle with and pollute the world with Jewish children?"

Maria held her breath to save herself from smelling the disgusting scent coming from him. "I am a working woman now."

"Better off that way. No need to spread your disgusting genes around with the rest of those people." He narrowed his eyes and walked slowly behind her, his eyes scanning her over carefully while his mind began to violate her. "You have a damn good ass all grown up."

Around the corner, John's blood was practically boiling as he listened to Glen speak to her in a sickly disgusting voice. Hearing footsteps, he turned his head and motioned to the uniforms to stop in their steps. What he didn't expect was to see the pistol muzzle pointed right at his face when he turned back around. "Fuck."

"Fuck indeed." Glen reached down and took Munch's Glock from his hand, tossing it to the other side of the room. "You certainly look like a Yid," he smirked, pressing the pistol against his forehead. John closed his eyes, cussing at himself for being so stupid. "At least you look like what's on the posters in the books I read." He moved the gun and walked backwards until he was standing near the still whimpering little girl.

"Let him go, Glen. This is between you and me." Maria stated firmly. Once she saw Glen press the pistol muzzle to John's forehead, her fear was long gone. Now it was personal. "He's not going anywhere without me."

He shook his head and grabbed the girl by her hair, laughing when she screamed in pain. "Remember that pain, Maria? We did that to you all the time on those long nights when we had nothing else better to do." he tossed the girl to the floor, not noticing she landed near John's Glock. "How did you find me anyway?"

"You're father let it out without knowing. I knew you were going to be here-"

"Bullshit!" He aimed his pistol to the floor and fired, watching her and Munch flinch. "You lie! My father would have never let you get to me."

"No! He was pissed you had raped those twin sisters and had to kill them because you ruined them in his eyes." Frank said loudly, moving herself in front of John as a shield once he slipped down to the floor when Glen removed his pistol from his head. "Isn't that true, Glen? Your father didn't want you even touching his prizes, but you couldn't help yourself, couldn't you?"

For a split second, Glen's angry expression changed to shock. he looked almost human for a second there, but Maria kept her guard up. "My father handed me over?" He stared straight at her and was oblivious to the little girl tucking the Glock under her arm and slowly crawling towards the door. "You're lying. My father wouldn't hand me over for a anything in the world."

"Not even to avoid the death penalty?" Noticing the child was moving slowly toward her direction from the corner of her eye, Maria had to keep his attention. "He's going to head for the death penalty for everything he had done."

He raised his pistol up and aimed at Maria's head, his face growing red in anger. "you're a lying piece of shit! I just wanted to follow in my father's steps and he wouldn't let me! They wouldn't kill him!" He noticed the girl moving faster in the direction of the door and aimed down at her.

Maria lifted her Glock and shouted, "Don't!" but it was too late. He fired and missed the child's head by a centimeter, watching her scramble up and straight into John's open arms. Glen lifted his arm to Maria and pulled the trigger at the same time she fired. Glen fell backwards and gasped for air. Frank stumbled back and placed her hand over her arm where the bullet grazed her.

The uniforms, who had quietly stood back, quickly rushed over and cuffed Glen as he attempted to put pressure on his shoulder wound. "Why didn't you kill me?" he demanded, struggling with the officers for a moment.

"Because you don't deserve the easy way out." She answered softly, breathing in slowly to steady herself. The pain in her arm was unbearable, but she had to make sure John and the child were okay. Turning around, she saw him leaning against the wall with the girl still in his arms, her sobs muffled by his shoulder. "You okay?"

"We'll talk about that later," he muttered, raising his eyebrows toward the child. "How bad did he get you?"

She shook her head and watched the officers take the man out, one talking into his radio. "It feels like a graze, but I'll live." She bent down and placed a hand on the child's back to sooth her. "Everything's okay now, honey. We'll get you back to your friends."

* * *

Later that night -

Once everything was in place and the child had been placed back into the care of the foster agency, Munch and Maria got home as soon as they possibly could to relax and really check each other over. "John, are you okay?" She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked him in the eyes.

He blinked a few times and shook his head. "I honestly thought he was going to pull that trigger. I'll be all right, though." He pulled her into a hug gently as to not touch her freshly wrapped wound. _The nightmares are going to be Hell-ish, like that's anything new. _"How about you?"

"It's over, John. Everything is finally over." She whispered into his shoulder, inhaling the smell she had grown used to over the years. "Now what do I do?"

Exhaling a slow breath, he placed a hand on the back of her head and tilted his head slightly to speak right into her ear. "Lock it all up, just like you had done before. But make it permanent." he pulled away and cupped her face. "It's just you, me and Zev. Those people who had harmed you in the past are now locked up for good. All of those people who had been in their care are now safe and will learn of their closure soon enough."

Maria sadly smiled and pulled him down for a gentle kiss. "Now what would I do without you beside me?"

"Well," he tilted his head to one side with a small smile, hoping they'll be able to find a way to easy the uncomfortable tension that had formed during the hostage situation. "you wouldn't have the wonderful sex if it wasn't for me. If it were anyone else, it would be boring as Hell and nowhere near as adventurous."

She laughed. "I had a feeling you were going to bring up sex. Is that all you have on your mind?"

"I think of it every time I lay my eyes on you."

"Thank you," she whispered, pulling him into another hug. "Thank you for everything."

"I'm always here for you."

**-End!**

**Sorry this took so fucking long. Writer's block, work, life, random shit, etc. kept me from it. BUT it's done. The title belongs to Evanescence (Whisper). If you haven't, listen to the lyrics. This is why this is called Whisper.**


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